Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Raised by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 909,060 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,972 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.0% of Whittier Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $383,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037,857 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $460.69 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $405.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $414.29. 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 $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.