Portland Financial Advisors Inc Purchases New Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Portland Financial Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 690 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 7.6 %

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $30.14 on Thursday, reaching $425.40. The company had a trading volume of 58,840,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,314,175. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company's fifty day moving average is $383.76 and its 200 day moving average is $410.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Profile

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.