Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Greenleaf Trust

Greenleaf Trust cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 325,726 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,847 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.2% of Greenleaf Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $137,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $390.58 on Friday. The company 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $376.91 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $406.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.25.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.