First Financial Bank Trust Division Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 76,911 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,907 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.0% of First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Rebalance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.8 %

MSFT opened at $415.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $422.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.00. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

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.