Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Decreased by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,469 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,434 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.3% of Private Trust Co. NA's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Private Trust Co. NA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $433.35. The company had a trading volume of 23,291,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,367,253. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $386.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.