Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. Acquires 151 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,617 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of Granite Harbor Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $393.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $408.34 and a 200-day moving average of $419.63. 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 Co. has a one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued 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 0.84%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.