Simmons Bank Sells 548 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Simmons Bank cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,830 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.1% of Simmons Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $43,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.53.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

MSFT opened at $429.03 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $429.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.57.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.