True North Advisors LLC Sells 2,063 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

True North Advisors LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,715 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,063 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.5% of True North Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $601,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $432.13.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.3 %

MSFT opened at $399.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $414.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $384.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

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.