Lexington Hill Partners LLC Invests $961,000 in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Lexington Hill Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,987 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $961,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.7% of Lexington Hill Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. First Growth Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,585,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 242,458 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $116,398,000 after acquiring an additional 30,833 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,572,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 234.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,619,211,000 after acquiring an additional 12,493,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Equity LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $592,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly building a more than $1 billion annual AI and cloud business with ByteDance in China, underscoring strong demand for its Azure and OpenAI-related services. Microsoft Scores Massive China AI Win as TikTok Parent Eyes $1 Billion Spend
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s push to monetize ChatGPT with ads highlights continued AI commercialization, which may support sentiment around Microsoft’s OpenAI stake and AI strategy. OpenAI Brings ChatGPT Ads to Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is said to be moving Copilot to usage-based pricing and exploring cheaper AI models, a sign it is trying to improve margins as AI infrastructure costs rise. Microsoft (MSFT) Moves Copilot To Usage Based Pricing As AI Costs Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say investors are increasingly worried about Microsoft’s AI valuation, spending, and monetization, which is weighing on the stock. Microsoft Faces AI Expectations Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing securities class-action lawsuits and investigations over alleged misleading AI-related statements, adding legal uncertainty. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal suggest possible friction in securing additional cloud capacity. Why Microsoft Stock Slumped Today

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $379.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $412.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. New Street Research lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).