North Star Investment Management Corp. Lowers Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

North Star Investment Management Corp. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,241 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,174 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.7% of North Star Investment Management Corp.'s holdings, 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 quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 16.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $507.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,143,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,527,313. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $477.78 and a 200-day moving average of $428.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.19, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $514.64.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $581.00 price target (up from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $544.07.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.