CENTRAL TRUST Co Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 246,844 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.5% of CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Microsoft were worth $104,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $508.86.

Remove Ads

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $7.63 during trading on Monday, hitting $371.17. 12,866,771 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,496,477. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $367.31 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business's 50 day moving average is $405.52 and its 200-day moving average is $419.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.