Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Northstar Asset Management Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Northstar Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Northstar Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,204,664,000 after buying an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

MSFT opened at $367.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $388.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $412.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $499.97.

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.

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