Peoples Financial Services CORP. Sells 50 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,305 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.5% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Microsoft by 9.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Microsoft by 9.2% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,749,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,956 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,369,562,000 after acquiring an additional 88,583 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,620,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,353,488,000 after purchasing an additional 207,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Macquarie raised their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $414.48 and a 200-day moving average of $387.70. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $295.25 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

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.