Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is First City Capital Management Inc.'s Largest Position

First City Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,127 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,915 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.5% of First City Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. First City Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 71,334 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,778,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% in the first quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 18,168 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,820,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Persium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Persium Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 71,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,705,000 after purchasing an additional 5,054 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,427,989 shares of the software giant's stock worth $536,053,000 after buying an additional 7,494 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $524.71.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $497.72. The stock had a trading volume of 13,791,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,684,120. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $500.76. The firm's 50 day moving average is $461.41 and its 200-day moving average is $423.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 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 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.