Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 989,782 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,782 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 9.0% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $425,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.81. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.38% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

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.