Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 920,711 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 24,074 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.3% of Yousif Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $388,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $382.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $367.24 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $403.52 and its 200 day moving average is $418.45. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $508.86.

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.