Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 25.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,926 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 9,278 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.1% of First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2,332.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,262,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,468,645 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 272,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $131,750,000 after buying an additional 49,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Overbrook Management Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 87,535 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,334,000 after buying an additional 2,384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $381.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $399.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $408.26. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its partnership with Databricks through the 2030s, deepening integrations across Azure, Microsoft 365, Teams and Copilot and reinforcing its cloud and AI ecosystem. Microsoft (MSFT) Expands Partnership with AI Firm Databricks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also deepened ties with AI startup Mistral, adding another strategic AI partner and broadening its footprint in regulated industries and Europe. Microsoft and Mistral expand strategic partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft committed $60 million and Azure compute credits to the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Genesis Mission,” highlighting ongoing investment in AI-for-science initiatives and government relationships. Microsoft commits $60M to ‘Genesis Mission’
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive, with Truist reiterating a buy rating and a $575 price target, suggesting substantial upside if earnings and AI demand remain solid. Analyst note on Microsoft

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.40.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).