Novem Group Invests $5.62 Million in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Novem Group bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,336 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $5,621,000. Microsoft accounts for about 0.8% of Novem Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Collective Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,090,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 117,366 shares of the software giant's stock worth $49,470,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $565.00 target price (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, June 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 15th. 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 note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $478.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $432.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $419.32. 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $480.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.