Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,986 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.7% of Granite Harbor Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at about $989,814,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2 %

MSFT opened at $420.69 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $311.21 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $418.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $425.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

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.