Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by North Star Investment Management Corp.

North Star Investment Management Corp. lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,241 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,174 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.7% of North Star Investment Management Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.05 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $514.64. 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 $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $477.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $428.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.79.

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.