Citizens National Bank Trust Department Acquires 167 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Citizens National Bank Trust Department lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,723 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 167 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.3% of Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% in the third quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. now owns 51,407 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.2% in the third quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 28,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,686 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 73,984 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,360,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 5,264 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $412.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $413.90 and a 200-day moving average of $392.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $306.26 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.