Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA’s 2nd Largest Position

Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,544 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 574 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.5% of Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,645,000. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised 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 valued at $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $3,314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $378.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average is $405.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $419.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date 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.