Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Northstar Advisory Group LLC

Northstar Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,765 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,462 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.2% of Northstar Advisory Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Northstar Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,108,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9 %

Microsoft stock traded down $7.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $408.25. 27,440,364 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,515,041. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $425.98 and a 200-day moving average of $422.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.