GraniteShares Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,902 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.7% of GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $425.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $411.01. The company has a market capitalization 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.