Griffin Asset Management Inc. Buys 666 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,695 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.9% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $351,001,000 after acquiring an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% in the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $413.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $415.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $383.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $275.37 and a twelve month high of $430.82.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.52.

About Microsoft

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.