Renaissance Investment Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,301 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,282 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.3% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the first quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,216 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,533,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 44.0% in the first quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 9,706 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,992,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the period. Steward Financial Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 100.3% during the 1st quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Wealth Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Aspire Wealth Management Corp now owns 3,143 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. 69.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Microsoft from $370.00 to $330.00 and set an “inline” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $325.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, June 13th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Microsoft from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $320.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $334.31.
Microsoft Price Performance
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $292.71 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $241.51 and a one year high of $349.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $265.23 and a 200 day moving average of $279.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.93.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). Microsoft had a return on equity of 43.31% and a net margin of 36.69%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.73%.
Microsoft Profile
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, as well as related Client Access Licenses (CAL); 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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