Welch Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 201,277 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.9% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $85,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,204,664,000 after purchasing an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 1,381,517 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $594,467,000 after acquiring an additional 49,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonekeep Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stonekeep Investments LLC now owns 5,701 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $375.39 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $367.24 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $404.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $418.77. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.86.

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.