Montecito Bank & Trust Has $19.01 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Montecito Bank & Trust cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,637 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 568 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.4% of Montecito Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fosun International Ltd boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $581.00 target price (up from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.79.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $510.05 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $514.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $477.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its 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 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.