First Financial Bank Trust Division Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,972 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,496 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.4% of First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.83.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $446.34 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $418.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $405.81. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $450.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.