Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,857 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 8,823 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.1% of Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $74,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $453.13. 21,913,513 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,510,806. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $392.40 and its 200 day moving average is $412.14. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $509.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

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.