Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Purchases 2,989 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,615 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.3% of Plimoth Trust Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HCR Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 46,834 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,581,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.5% in the first quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 114.9% in the first quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 17,519 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 9,368 shares during the period. Adams Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 8.2% during the first quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,076,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Finally, Hamilton Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 31.1% during the first quarter. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,589 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,237,000 after purchasing an additional 9,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MSFT opened at $513.71 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $483.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $431.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $518.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $551.21.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.