NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Acquires 5,729 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,328 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,729 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.4% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $113,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position 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. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $477.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $483.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $437.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.42 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, 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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