Hodges Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 61,797 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 289 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.6% of Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in 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 during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $378.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $405.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.