WASHINGTON TRUST Co lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 99.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 231 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 232,641 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.0% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. WASHINGTON TRUST Co's holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. PayPay Securities Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Gleason Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 111.7% during the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its stake in Microsoft by 157.0% during the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Argus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $425.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $373.68.
Read Our Latest Report on MSFT
Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $322.98 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $333.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.96. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $213.43 and a 52-week high of $366.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The firm had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.07%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 874 shares in the company, valued at $292,588.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
About Microsoft
(Free Report)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.
See Also
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