Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Decreased by Peoples Financial Services CORP.

Peoples Financial Services CORP. lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,061 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,380 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.0% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Peoples Financial Services CORP.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $506.74 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $507.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $446.00. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. 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 capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company 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 issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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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