Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,372 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 155 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.5% of Granite Harbor Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Sonen Capital LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 10,132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. now owns 937 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Noble Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Noble Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.52.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $413.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $415.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $383.26. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

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.