FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $23.17 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,031 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,148 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 6.2% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,714,197,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129,708 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,824,173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,554 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,523,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,810,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537,712 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after acquiring an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $329.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.66. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $213.43 and a 52 week high of $366.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $326.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $324.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.33%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on Microsoft from $425.00 to $421.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.

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.