Bath Savings Trust Co increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,673 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 5,279 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.2% of Bath Savings Trust Co's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Bath Savings Trust Co's holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted 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 worth $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $414.17 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $422.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $426.05. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.75%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.03.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Profile
(
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.
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