Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Iowa State Bank

Iowa State Bank trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,540 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,968 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.6% of Iowa State Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Walker Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,347 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,592,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 180.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,414 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486 shares during the period. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 10,777 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,637,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 11,226 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,831,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,568 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Three investment 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.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.2 %

MSFT opened at $422.99 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $421.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.