Calton & Associates Inc. Sells 4,015 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Calton & Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,840 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,015 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.1% of Calton & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Calton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $391.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $408.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $419.74. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.