AMG National Trust Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

AMG National Trust Bank raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,445 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.8% of AMG National Trust Bank's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. AMG National Trust Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $452.94. 19,864,490 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,511,825. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock's 50-day moving average is $391.20 and its 200 day moving average is $411.86.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.