Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is First National Bank of Hutchinson’s 4th Largest Position

First National Bank of Hutchinson cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,424 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 4.1% of First National Bank of Hutchinson’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. First National Bank of Hutchinson’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its position in Microsoft by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $550,086,000 after acquiring an additional 5,253 shares during the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 296.7% in the first quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares during the period. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,538,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

MSFT opened at $428.02 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $419.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

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.