Private Trust Co. NA Purchases 241 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,983 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.6% of Private Trust Co. NA’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in 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. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,620,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,353,488,000 after purchasing an additional 207,591 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price target (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.32 on Friday. The firm 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $414.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $387.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $295.25 and a 12-month high of $430.82.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio 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.