Camelot Portfolios LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Camelot Portfolios LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,467 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sicart Associates LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% in the third quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 7,807 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,936,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $399.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $414.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $387.17. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $292.73 and a twelve month high of $430.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $434.05.

Microsoft 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.