Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Ledyard National Bank's 5th Largest Position

Ledyard National Bank lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,897 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,596 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.5% of Ledyard National Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ledyard National Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $524.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.06. 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 1.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $489.94 and a 200 day moving average of $434.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Company 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.

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