Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s 2nd Largest Position

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,613 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,704 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.3% of Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Microsoft stock opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $422.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.