Drystone LLC Takes $7.20 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,079 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $7,199,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.2% of Drystone LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Sequent Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $391.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $408.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

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.