Exchange Bank Buys 169 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Exchange Bank boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,676 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.3% of Exchange Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Exchange Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 86,370 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,405,000 after purchasing an additional 23,868 shares in the last quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management now owns 5,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 14,745 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,215,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 11,080 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 18,287 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,708,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $393.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $381.00 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $416.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.54.

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.