Peoples Financial Services CORP. Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Peoples Financial Services CORP. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,575 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,486 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.1% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Peoples Financial Services CORP.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during 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 last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $513.43 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $512.18 and a 200-day moving average of $473.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $618.47.

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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