Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 17,437 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,437 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $7,350,000. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $7.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $408.25. 27,440,364 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,130,024. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $425.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.69. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.