First Western Trust Bank Sells 1,662 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Western Trust Bank lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,827 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,662 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.1% of First Western Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,829,031 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,787,934,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,374 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $472.75 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $473.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $419.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $417.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.