Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Purchases New Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 9,610 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,050,000. Microsoft makes up 3.8% of Northstar Financial Companies Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 78,825 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $33,225,000 after purchasing an additional 7,514 shares during the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $3,433,000. Campbell Deegan Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $2,001,000. Lighthouse Financial LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $2,666,000. Finally, Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $1,526,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $477.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $437.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $420.28. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $483.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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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