First Business Financial Services Inc. Has $7.89 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,335 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of First Business Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 4,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 25,679 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 13,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,854,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $429.03 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $429.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.14.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.93.

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.