Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lessened by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 259,590 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,774 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.6% of Park National Corp OH's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $97,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $486.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $487.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $439.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $420.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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 $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 yield of 0.68%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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