Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. Purchases 157 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 472 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ariston Services Group purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $241,000. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,669,000. M3 Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $1,162,000. Finally, Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $1,493,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Macquarie upped their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.83.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $446.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $418.59 and a 200 day moving average of $405.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $450.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.