Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 15,879 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 619,025 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 15,879 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.4% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $260,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,890,530,000 after buying an additional 49,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,908,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.33 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $457.36. The company had a trading volume of 16,984,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,590,918. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's fifty day moving average is $405.09 and its 200 day moving average is $414.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.