Northcape Wealth Management LLC Sells 519 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,828 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 519 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.2% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Northcape Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fosun International Ltd lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $522.04. The stock had a trading volume of 13,172,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,226,391. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $500.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $439.91. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

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.