Washington Trust Bank Sells 1,733 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Washington Trust Bank lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,387 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,733 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.5% of Washington Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 3,482 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 3,747 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fountainhead AM LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 69.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.32, for a total value of $272,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 116,362 shares in the company, valued at $31,687,699.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $1,186,410.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at $196,272,990. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.32, for a total value of $272,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 116,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,687,699.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,767 shares of company stock worth $1,728,111 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. UBS Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. Cowen cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.58.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $260.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $315.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $249.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The software giant reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 39.87% and a net margin of 33.05%. The firm had revenue of $52.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 9.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.22%.

Microsoft Profile

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Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.