Centennial Bank AR Sells 308 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Centennial Bank AR lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,814 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 308 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.5% of Centennial Bank AR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Centennial Bank AR’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% 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. Insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $507.23 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $506.08 and its 200 day moving average is $444.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Company 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.