Bank of Hawaii Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bank of Hawaii trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,362 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 330 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.4% of Bank of Hawaii’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Bank of Hawaii’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $56,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,007,285,000 after buying an additional 636,713 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 15.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,771,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $762,410,000 after purchasing an additional 242,988 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 9,554 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,111,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 80,195 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 14,465 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,224,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $432.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 34.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

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.