Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Farmers Trust Co.’s 2nd Largest Position

Farmers Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,858 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,273 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.0% of Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

MSFT opened at $517.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $512.83 and its 200 day moving average is $466.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

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.