Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is First County Bank CT’s 4th Largest Position

First County Bank CT decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,048 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,303 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.0% of First County Bank CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Birch Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 33,463 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $5,748,000. Stonehearth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 221,844 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $93,507,000 after acquiring an additional 6,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Microsoft by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 21,077 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $408.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $428.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.