Alerus Financial NA Has $47.64 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alerus Financial NA trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,032 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,156 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.6% of Alerus Financial NA's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Alerus Financial NA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

MSFT stock traded up $3.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $467.68. The company had a trading volume of 20,083,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,471,692. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $413.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $415.95. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $469.58. 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 cap of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

About Microsoft

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.