Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Keybank National Association OH

Keybank National Association OH cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,721,486 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 47,984 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.1% of Keybank National Association OH’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,021,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4%

MSFT stock opened at $520.17 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $502.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $441.02. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% 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 Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, 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 have sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.