Northwest Bank & Trust Co Sells 62 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Northwest Bank & Trust Co reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,964 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.9% of Northwest Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Northwest Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $427.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $421.54 and its 200 day moving average is $426.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.