Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 168,563 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.0% of Grimes & Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $71,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $388.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $412.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft 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.