Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Cut by First American Bank

First American Bank trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 198,665 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,252 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.1% of First American Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. First American Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $85,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 9.1% during the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 108,678 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $48,574,000 after buying an additional 9,050 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,789,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 27,796 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,423,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,621 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $439.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $427.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft 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.