Washington Trust Bank Sells 4,838 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Washington Trust Bank reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,439 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,838 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.0% of Washington Trust Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Washington Trust Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first 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. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $507.23 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $506.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $444.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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