By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
First Bancorp Inc ME reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,399 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.0% of First Bancorp Inc ME’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grange Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,243,000. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,044 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,920,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,565 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,404,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,528 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,339,000 after buying an additional 3,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 147,453 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $62,152,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $388.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $412.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $420.55.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.43.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT
Microsoft 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.
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