Eastern Bank Has $248.18 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Eastern Bank reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 661,117 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 21,752 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.9% of Eastern Bank's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Eastern Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $248,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.6%

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $12.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $495.00. The company had a trading volume of 31,963,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,697,988. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50 day moving average is $509.93 and its 200 day moving average is $450.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm 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%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.