First Western Trust Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Western Trust Bank lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,489 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,358 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of First Western Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.66.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $446.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $430.07 and a 200-day moving average of $425.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. 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 twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (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 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 revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.91 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.