Northstar Asset Management Inc. Has $19.96 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Northstar Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,342 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,686 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.2% of Northstar Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Northstar Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $494.80.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $9.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $384.01. The stock had a trading volume of 4,084,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,194,519. The business's 50-day moving average price is $385.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.70. The company has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.