Stableford Capital II LLC Has $7.92 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stableford Capital II LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,790 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 826 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.1% of Stableford Capital II LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Stableford Capital II LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boit C F David boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Boit C F David now owns 31,804 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,405,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 21,136 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,909,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Brio Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 3,388 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,428,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in Microsoft by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 67,569 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,480,000 after acquiring an additional 22,817 shares during the period. Finally, OFC Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $1,585,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Microsoft stock opened at $389.97 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $407.20 and its 200-day moving average is $419.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.