FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 2,336 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 57,773 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,336 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.0% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. President Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Phillip Securities raised Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Bank of America began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $372.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $410.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.47.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft shares bounced as the broader memory and semiconductor market stabilized, helping relieve some of the pressure tied to AI infrastructure and component-cost fears.
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and other bullish commentators said the recent tech selloff may be a buying opportunity, arguing Microsoft remains a core AI leader despite near-term volatility. Dan Ives Says Microsoft And Meta Are Being Treated Like ‘Bear Market’ Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft was mentioned in new partnerships and product integrations, including Commvault, PitchBook, FPT, and ICON plc, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI ecosystem. Microsoft Just Made Commvault a Native Azure Service. Here Is How to Play CVLT Stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention from investors after Michael Burry disclosed a long position, which some traders viewed as a contrarian buy signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles noted analysts still like the stock long term, but Wall Street remains focused on whether AI spending is destroying near-term margins and free cash flow. Wall Street Analysts Think Microsoft (MSFT) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its Microsoft price target and warned that FY27 gross margin estimates may be too high because Azure growth is coming with heavier capex and margin pressure. Microsoft’s Stock Is Crippled
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft announced another worldwide Xbox price increase, citing soaring memory and storage costs, which adds to concerns that hardware inflation is squeezing the gaming business.
• Negative Sentiment: New legal and regulatory pressure also weighed on the stock, including an Italy antitrust probe into Microsoft 365 pricing and new shareholder class-action notices over alleged investor misinformation.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).