Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Decreased by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 210,201 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,943 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.0% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $78,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,075,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 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. Insiders sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.58 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $500.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $439.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.17, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued 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 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

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.