North Growth Management Ltd. Sells 3,000 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

North Growth Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,000 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.7% of North Growth Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. North Growth Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $505.41.

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Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $7.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $388.45. 23,826,330 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,242,894. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $391.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $414.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

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.