First Financial Bank Trust Division reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ: MSFT – Get a rating) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund held 101,414 shares of the software giant after selling 727 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.1% of First Financial Bank Trust Division’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,238,000 at the end of the last quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently changed their holdings in MSFT. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft shares by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. now owns 3,746 shares of the software giant worth $898,000 after buying 39 more shares in the last quarter. Providence First Trust Co increased its stake in Microsoft stock by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Providence First Trust Co now owns 1,645 shares of the software giant worth $395,000 after buying 40 more shares in the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft shares by 0.3% during Q2. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 11,976 shares of the software giant worth $3,076,000 after buying 41 additional shares in the last quarter. Denver Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft shares by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Denver Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the software giant worth $323,000 after buying 41 additional shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daniels&Tansey LLP increased its stake in Microsoft shares by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Daniels&Tansey LLP now owns 1,488 shares of the software giant worth $357,000 after buying 41 more shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors hold 72.20% of the company’s shares.
Insider buying and selling at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the company in a transaction on Monday, May 1. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total transaction of $9,182,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares of the company, valued at $35,952,107.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available via this hyperlink. In other news, Director List Teri sold 1,250 shares of the company in a trade on Friday, June 2. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 874 shares of the company, valued at $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available via this hyperlink. Also, VPE Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the company in a transaction on Monday, May 1. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total transaction of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,456 shares of the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,331 shares of the company worth $15,867,278 during the last quarter. Company insiders hold 0.03% of the company’s shares.
Changes to analyst ratings
A number of equity research analysts have recently released reports on the stock. UBS Group raised its price target on Microsoft shares from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a Wednesday, April 26 report. Piper Sandler raised her target price on Microsoft stock from $348.00 to $400.00 in a Wednesday, May 31 report. Guggenheim raised its price target on Microsoft stock from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a Wednesday, April 26 report. Atlantic Securities raised its price target on Microsoft stock from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a Wednesday, April 26 report. Finally, 888 reaffirmed a “holds” rating on Microsoft’s stock in a Wednesday, April 26, report. One analyst rated the stock with a sell rating, four gave the company a hold rating and thirty-two gave the company’s stock a buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.23.
Microsoft stock performance
Shares of Microsoft share opened at $342.33 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $351.47. The company has a debt ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $311.86 and its two-hundred-day moving average price is $274.54.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT – Get a rating) last reported results on Tuesday, April 25. The software giant reported earnings per share of $2.45 for the quarter, beating consensus analyst estimates of $2.22 by $0.23. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. The company posted revenue of $52.86 billion for the quarter, versus analyst estimates of $51.01 billion. In the same quarter last year, the company posted earnings per share of $2.22. The company’s quarterly revenue increased 7.1% year over year. On average, stock analysts expect Microsoft Co. to post earnings per share of 9.65 for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft dividend announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17 will receive a dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 16. This represents a dividend of $2.72 on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.47%.
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Process, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and business divisions.
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