CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 4,862 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 241,982 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,862 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Microsoft were worth $90,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $513.71. 19,103,456 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,594,816. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $483.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $431.52. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $518.29.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $581.00 price target (up previously from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $551.21.

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.