Means Investment CO. Inc. Has $44.53 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 105,645 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.6% of Means Investment CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% in the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,137,000 after acquiring an additional 42,778 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $378.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $405.52 and its 200 day moving average is $418.97.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio 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.