Copeland Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Copeland Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,271 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,858 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd 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 increased 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 worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Mizuho cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $390.58 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $406.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $419.25.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.