Sharper & Granite LLC Purchases 340 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sharper & Granite LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,990 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Sharper & Granite LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,790 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,655,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Crane Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Crane Advisory LLC now owns 4,059 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 24,382 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,322,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tlwm grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Tlwm now owns 5,889 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $408.25 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $425.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $423.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Company 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.