Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,479 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fosun International Ltd boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $522.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $501.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $440.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

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.