Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Iowa State Bank’s 3rd Largest Position

Iowa State Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,751 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 723 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.9% of Iowa State Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,438 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Navalign LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,491,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 132,839 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,944,000 after buying an additional 11,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wade Financial Advisory Inc raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% during the third quarter. Wade Financial Advisory Inc now owns 3,595 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $400.96 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $414.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $386.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.05.

Microsoft 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.