Lazari Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 14,600 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 19th, 2023

Lazari Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,600 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $4,972,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.8% of Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,714,197,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129,708 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,554 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,523,373 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,810,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537,712 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $50,302,677,000 after acquiring an additional 556,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, September 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $347.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.85.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $330.11 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $366.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $325.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $322.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The firm had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.

Microsoft Profile

(Free Report)

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.