Tull Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Tull Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,612 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $679,000. Microsoft accounts for 0.4% of Tull Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 504,519 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $212,655,000 after purchasing an additional 7,745 shares in the last quarter. Strategent Financial LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $767,000. Weinberger Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 1,823 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 108,627 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,787,000 after buying an additional 3,734 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 71,899 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $425.40 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $384.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.77.

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.