Greystone Financial Group LLC Has $13.63 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Greystone Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,392 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,956 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.7% of Greystone Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sicart Associates LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $12.92 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $389.33. 28,721,275 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,169,949. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $303.40 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $414.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $389.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

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.