FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Cuts Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,482 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,604 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.7% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.9%

MSFT stock traded down $4.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $505.27. The stock had a trading volume of 13,296,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,554,989. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $514.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $477.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush boosted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.07.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.