Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Cut by Legacy Private Trust Co.

Key Points

• Legacy Private Trust Co. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 4.9%, owning 69,211 shares after selling 3,563 shares in the second quarter.
• A number of research firms have recently increased their price targets for Microsoft, with Citigroup raising theirs to $613.00 and Wells Fargo setting a new target of $650.00.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, up from $0.83, with an upcoming payment date of December 11th.

Legacy Private Trust Co. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,211 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,563 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.2% of Legacy Private Trust Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Legacy Private Trust Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,374,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306,485 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush raised their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $517.93 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $511.71 and a 200 day moving average of $457.92. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

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.

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