North Star Investment Management Corp. Has $36.50 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

North Star Investment Management Corp. reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,241 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,174 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of North Star Investment Management Corp.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. North Star Investment Management Corp.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $505.87. 16,378,636 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,593,527. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $514.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $481.17 and a 200 day moving average of $430.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush increased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $548.36.

Microsoft 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.