Legacy Private Trust Co. Has $29.68 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Legacy Private Trust Co. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,981 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,204 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.0% of Legacy Private Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Legacy Private Trust Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock worth $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% during the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 430,730 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $192,515,000 after purchasing an additional 8,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 156,258 shares of the software giant's stock worth $69,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Microsoft stock traded up $4.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $417.00. 24,814,626 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,244,906. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $421.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.