Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Berkshire Bank

Berkshire Bank cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,801 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,344 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.9% of Berkshire Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,591,126,000 after purchasing an additional 277,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $431.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.