First Interstate Bank Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Interstate Bank cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,569 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.2% of First Interstate Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 29,568 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,723,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 27,577 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,866,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,082 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,272,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 14,458 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,168,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Visionary Horizons LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.7% in the third quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen lowered 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $428.83 and a 200 day moving average of $428.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.