Cambridge Trust Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cambridge Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 395,403 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,580 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.3% of Cambridge Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $166,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,591,126,000 after purchasing an additional 277,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $416.79 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $435.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.