Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC Sells 36 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,751 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $359.84 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $399.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $417.40. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $359.48 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.