Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Boosted by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,695 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.9% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $413.64 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $415.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $383.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.12%.

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.