Lexington Hill Partners LLC Purchases New Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Lexington Hill Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,987 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $961,000. Microsoft makes up about 0.7% of Lexington Hill Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. First Growth Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,585,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 242,458 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $116,398,000 after purchasing an additional 30,833 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,572,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 234.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,619,211,000 after buying an additional 12,493,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Equity LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $592,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1%

Microsoft stock opened at $379.40 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $412.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly building a more than $1 billion annual AI and cloud business with ByteDance in China, underscoring strong demand for its Azure and OpenAI-related services. Microsoft Scores Massive China AI Win as TikTok Parent Eyes $1 Billion Spend
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s push to monetize ChatGPT with ads highlights continued AI commercialization, which may support sentiment around Microsoft’s OpenAI stake and AI strategy. OpenAI Brings ChatGPT Ads to Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is said to be moving Copilot to usage-based pricing and exploring cheaper AI models, a sign it is trying to improve margins as AI infrastructure costs rise. Microsoft (MSFT) Moves Copilot To Usage Based Pricing As AI Costs Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say investors are increasingly worried about Microsoft’s AI valuation, spending, and monetization, which is weighing on the stock. Microsoft Faces AI Expectations Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing securities class-action lawsuits and investigations over alleged misleading AI-related statements, adding legal uncertainty. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal suggest possible friction in securing additional cloud capacity. Why Microsoft Stock Slumped Today

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).