Lighthouse Financial LLC Invests $2.67 Million in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lighthouse Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,324 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,666,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.2% of Lighthouse Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,526,000. SpringVest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 20,088 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,644,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $640,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $898,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $477.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $437.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.28. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $483.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Securities raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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