Hills Bank & Trust Co Sells 1,204 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hills Bank & Trust Co cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 76,269 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,204 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.0% of Hills Bank & Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,737,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 11,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,423,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 50.5% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 24,096 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,054,000 after buying an additional 8,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 50.3% in the 1st quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 36,610 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,464,000 after buying an additional 12,254 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $521.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $498.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $438.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.86.

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.