Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Grassi Investment Management

Grassi Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,755 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 6.2% of Grassi Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $68,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $87,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $449.78 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $419.96 and its 200-day moving average is $407.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $450.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.