Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Citizens National Bank Trust Department

Key Points

• Citizens National Bank Trust Department increased its Microsoft stake by 2.8% to 37,580 shares, valued at approximately $14 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of MSFT.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue grew 17.7% year over year.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, an increase from $0.91, and analysts maintained a favorable outlook with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and $564.27 price target.

Citizens National Bank Trust Department increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,580 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.1% of Citizens National Bank Trust Department's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Citizens National Bank Trust Department's holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 234.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,619,211,000 after acquiring an additional 12,493,786 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after acquiring an additional 9,814,598 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,982,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,493,778 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $493.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $466.97 and a 200-day moving average of $422.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure and AI businesses remain the primary bullish catalysts. Analysts point to accelerating cloud growth, broad enterprise adoption and Microsoft’s distribution advantage through Azure, Microsoft 365 and Copilot. These Magnificent Seven Members Still Look Cheap
• Positive Sentiment: Causaly expanded its collaboration with Microsoft, making its agentic scientific-research tools available within Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 and Teams. The deal supports Microsoft’s strategy of adding specialized AI workflows to its enterprise software ecosystem. Causaly is Now Available in Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s 8% quarterly dividend increase reinforces its strong cash generation and provides shareholder support, although the company continues to invest heavily in cloud and AI infrastructure. Microsoft Slips as Its Quarterly Dividend Climbs 8%
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman called recent reports of concerning model behavior at OpenAI a “serious situation” and emphasized the need for controllable, human-aligned AI. The comments highlight Microsoft’s safety focus but also underscore reputational and product-liability risks across the sector. OpenAI's latest AI revelation is a serious situation
• Negative Sentiment: Unsealed filings reportedly include Microsoft and OpenAI employees’ concerns that AI training on millions of news articles could amount to the “largest theft of labor in human history.” The disclosures may weaken the companies’ fair-use defense and increase potential litigation, licensing and regulatory costs. OpenAI, Microsoft executives' quotes on AI training threaten copyright defense
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of insider selling added to near-term sentiment pressure, while Microsoft faces competitive challenges from Salesforce’s AIforce and ongoing debate over whether its substantial AI spending will generate adequate returns. Microsoft Trading Down After Insider Selling

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $564.27.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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