Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 24,435 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 7.4% of Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew 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 valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $425.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $384.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.01. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.77.

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.