Field & Main Bank Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Field & Main Bank lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,129 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,057 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.7% of Field & Main Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Field & Main Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $524.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,298,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,431,307. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $492.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $436.40.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

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.