Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Exchange Bank’s 4th Largest Position

Exchange Bank decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,428 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.6% of Exchange Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Exchange Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,591,126,000 after acquiring an additional 277,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. 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. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Insider Activity

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

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $457.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $424.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $410.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.