Hilton Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 25.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,020 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 36,603 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.6% of Hilton Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 302,541,869 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $101,750,881,000 after purchasing an additional 8,108,943 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 129,107,118 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,313,705,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027,306 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $24,401,940,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 57,181,533 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,231,292,000 after acquiring an additional 584,273 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 39,096,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,149,038,000 after purchasing an additional 652,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.29% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %
Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $261.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $270.44 and its 200 day moving average is $277.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $241.51 and a one year high of $349.67.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). Microsoft had a net margin of 36.69% and a return on equity of 43.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 18th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.73%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Microsoft from $350.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 27th. Itau BBA Securities assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $287.00 price target for the company. Fundamental Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $280.50 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, August 3rd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $400.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $334.31.
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.
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