Drystone LLC Makes New $7.20 Million Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,079 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $7,199,000. Microsoft comprises 7.2% of Drystone LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 39,592 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares during the last quarter. Baring Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,357,000. Gries Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 21,631 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,118,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Cortland Associates Inc. MO grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cortland Associates Inc. MO now owns 6,660 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Shapiro LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Shapiro LLC now owns 3,864 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $391.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $408.82 and a 200 day moving average of $419.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

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.