North Star Investment Management Corp. Buys 1,884 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 95,719 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,884 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.9% of North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $46,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BLVD Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the third quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. ARK & TLK Investments LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% in the third quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $426.99 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $400.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $434.51. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expected to showcase new homegrown AI models at Build, including a coding model that could improve GitHub Copilot and support future developer adoption. Microsoft to release new coding model next week, the Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary is turning more bullish on Microsoft’s AI revenue potential, with Morgan Stanley and HSBC both suggesting the market may be underestimating future upside from Azure, Copilot, and the Anthropic relationship. Is Wall Street underestimating MSFT AI revenue potential? Morgan Stanley weighs in
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also benefited from a broad tech rally, with AI and software stocks leading the market higher late in the session. Sector Update: Tech Stocks Rise Late Afternoon
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft secured a five-year $9.69 billion Pentagon software deal that consolidates government licensing and reinforces its entrenched enterprise and public-sector position. Pentagon awards Microsoft $9.7 billion deal in bid to cut costs, end license sprawl
• Neutral Sentiment: Some articles also note Microsoft’s heavy AI spending and the risk of capital misallocation across the sector, which could keep valuation debates active even as the stock trends higher. Peter Schiff: The $1 Trillion AI CapEx Bubble Is Hiding a Massive Capital Misallocation

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore dropped their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, China Renaissance dropped their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).