First Interstate Bank Cuts Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

First Interstate Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,192 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,573 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.0% of First Interstate Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. First Interstate Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Fosun International Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first 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 during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,856 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $502.04 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $507.06 and a 200-day moving average of $445.58. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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