North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH Acquires 125 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,969 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $3.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $430.16. 11,855,285 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,617,900. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $416.36 and its 200 day moving average is $398.93. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $433.60.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $454.70.

About Microsoft

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.