Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Penobscot Wealth Management

Penobscot Wealth Management raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,863 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Penobscot Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $502.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $441.01. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $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 valued at $21,493,447 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.86.

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.