Montecito Bank & Trust Has $19.49 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Montecito Bank & Trust decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,329 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 108 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.9% of Montecito Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% during the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $449.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $419.96 and its 200-day moving average is $407.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $450.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.