Lazari Capital Management Inc. Has $5.45 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lazari Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,504 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 657 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.1% of Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after buying an additional 6,484 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $442.57. 13,581,985 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,602,950. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $443.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $417.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $404.64. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.83.

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.