Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Alerus Financial NA’s 6th Largest Position

Alerus Financial NA cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 118,188 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,804 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.7% of Alerus Financial NA’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Alerus Financial NA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $50,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% during the second quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 49,026 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $413.29 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $432.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.