Bangor Savings Bank Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,761 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.8% of Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction 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 $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $452.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.21, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $422.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $408.83. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $456.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. 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.