55 North Private Wealth LLC Takes $6.69 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• 55 North Private Wealth LLC opened a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter, buying 13,829 shares worth about $6.69 million. Microsoft now makes up about 1.8% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Microsoft reported strong fiscal-quarter results, with EPS of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion topping expectations. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, underscoring continued growth in its business.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $560.88.

55 North Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,829 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $6,688,000. Microsoft accounts for about 1.8% of 55 North Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $405.21 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $397.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $442.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reaffirmed Microsoft as an outperform and kept a $575 price target, while Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to buy with a $485 target, underscoring Wall Street’s continued optimism about Microsoft’s long-term AI and cloud growth. Benzinga report
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Microsoft as a top long-term or “battered” software stock, with some investors seeing the pullback as an opportunity to buy a dominant franchise at a more attractive valuation. 247WallSt article
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly looking at startup acquisitions to reduce dependence on OpenAI, which could be a strategic positive over time but also signals that the current partnership is not viewed as fully secure. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn plans to cut about 5% of its workforce as part of a restructuring, which may support margins but also reflects caution across Microsoft’s broader business. Reuters/Invezz article
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing testimony in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is putting Microsoft’s role in OpenAI under a microscope, reviving concerns about governance, reliance on OpenAI, and possible legal or reputational overhang. CNBC article
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are worried that Microsoft’s AI capex is rising faster than the market can justify, with articles warning that the company must prove a timely return on its AI investments to sustain the stock’s premium. Motley Fool article

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.88.

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).

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