Lakeside Advisors INC. Sells 3,537 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lakeside Advisors INC. lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,002 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,537 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 27.1% of Lakeside Advisors INC.'s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Lakeside Advisors INC.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $387.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $385.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $411.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given 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 0.86%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.13.

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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