Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Stevens Capital Partners

Stevens Capital Partners boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,568 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.7% of Stevens Capital Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Stevens Capital Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $399.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $422.36 and a 200-day moving average of $423.01. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total transaction of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 51,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,675,916.64. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,000 shares of company stock worth $3,070,340. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.