Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by First United Bank & Trust

First United Bank & Trust lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,831 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 485 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of First United Bank & Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. First United Bank & Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $503.32 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $470.64 and its 200-day moving average is $425.67. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $506.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.14.

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.