Lodestone Wealth Management LLC Sells 30 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lodestone Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,919 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.9% of Lodestone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $367.78 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $389.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $413.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.