Red Lighthouse Investment Management LLC Purchases 1,740 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Red Lighthouse Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,942 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.6% of Red Lighthouse Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Red Lighthouse Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th 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 period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $3.80 on Wednesday, reaching $452.94. 19,864,490 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,511,825. The company has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $391.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its 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 analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.