Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Alerus Financial NA’s 6th Largest Position

Alerus Financial NA cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,032 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,156 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.6% of Alerus Financial NA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Alerus Financial NA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $462.97 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $411.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $415.62. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) 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 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. 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. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.