43,262 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by Trust Point Inc.

Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 43,262 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $16,268,000. Microsoft makes up about 1.3% of Trust Point Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bensler LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 86,932 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $27,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.05.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4 %

MSFT opened at $409.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.99, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $414.59 and a 200-day moving average of $387.09. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 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 return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. 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.