Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Community Financial Services Group LLC

Community Financial Services Group LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,005 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 728 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.8% of Community Financial Services Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Community Financial Services Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $524.11 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $489.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $435.01. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06.

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 (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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