Passumpsic Savings Bank Increases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,832 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %

Microsoft stock opened at $409.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $430.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $423.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.