First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,053 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,478 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,053 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 7.2% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $380.38 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $428.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.39.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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 reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company 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.