Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lifted by Bath Savings Trust Co

Bath Savings Trust Co raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,790 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 954 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.1% of Bath Savings Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $449.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $419.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $406.93. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $450.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.