North Forty Two & Co. Takes $2.10 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,987 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,102,000. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of North Forty Two & Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $2,742,000. Saiph Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 4,262 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn FI LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $10,675,000. Enhancing Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $10,553,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,809,058 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $762,518,000 after purchasing an additional 43,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $10.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $460.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,932,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,585,267. The business's 50 day moving average is $403.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $414.03. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company 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.