Spire Wealth Management Has $73.07 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Spire Wealth Management lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 173,351 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,556 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.3% of Spire Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $73,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 389.2% during the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,137,000 after purchasing an additional 42,778 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. 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 0.2 %

MSFT opened at $390.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $406.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $419.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. 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 (DPR) 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.