Chemung Canal Trust Co. Sells 3,923 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,420 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,923 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.1% of Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Microsoft by 62.0% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,612,000 after acquiring an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the first quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 161,605 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $67,991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 68,881 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,980,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 54,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,095,000 after purchasing an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. 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 50-day moving average price of $422.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

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.