Carr Financial Group Corp Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Carr Financial Group Corp lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,914 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 646 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.6% of Carr Financial Group Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Carr Financial Group Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $378.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $413.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.77.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.43.

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.