First Financial Corp IN Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Financial Corp IN cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,084 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,586 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.9% of First Financial Corp IN’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Parkside Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 186.2% in the first quarter. Parkside Investments LLC now owns 24,104 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,141,000 after buying an additional 15,682 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.4% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 9,748 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,101,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.4% in the first quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. now owns 779 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.8% in the first quarter. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,252 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,789,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Community Bank of Raymore lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the first quarter. Community Bank of Raymore now owns 7,098 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,986,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 target price (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $457.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $424.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $410.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.54, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. 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.