Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Rockland Trust Co.

Rockland Trust Co. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,023 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,350 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.1% of Rockland Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $94,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Microsoft by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after purchasing an additional 196,338 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Powell Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given 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 $423.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2 %

MSFT opened at $420.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $410.28 and its 200-day moving average is $373.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $275.37 and a 52-week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

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.