Peoples Financial Services CORP. Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 2nd, 2023

Peoples Financial Services CORP. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,947 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.9% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. PayPay Securities Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,588.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,331 shares of company stock worth $15,867,278. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $340.54 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $351.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $321.74 and its 200 day moving average is $280.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $52.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 9.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $315.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. 888 reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $348.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.18.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.