Webster Bank N. A. Sells 161 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Webster Bank N. A. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,498 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.3% of Webster Bank N. A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $87,000. Cordant Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Family CFO Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $434.05.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $386.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

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.