Northern Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Northern Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,846 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 399 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Northern Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Northern Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its stake in Microsoft by 157.0% during the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $83,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth $97,000. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $352.80 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $366.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $328.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $326.68. The company has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 29.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Fundamental Research set a $298.10 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $347.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $384.34.

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.