Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Boosted by Brown Financial Advisors

Brown Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,990 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of Brown Financial Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Brown Financial Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.89.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $395.26 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $383.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $410.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.

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