Bank of New Hampshire Cuts Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Bank of New Hampshire has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 5.3%, now holding 32,818 shares, which accounts for approximately 4.1% of their total holdings.
• Analysts have increased target prices for Microsoft's stock, with Wedbush raising their target from $600.00 to $625.00 and Jefferies from $600.00 to $675.00, indicating strong investor sentiment.
• Microsoft has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $0.83 and signaling confidence in its financial health.

Bank of New Hampshire lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,818 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,850 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.1% of Bank of New Hampshire's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Bank of New Hampshire's holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Birchbrook Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Fosun International Ltd increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Wedbush boosted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $514.45 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $511.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $459.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.72, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Microsoft Company Profile

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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