Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Fiduciary Trust Co

Fiduciary Trust Co raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 669,540 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.0% of Fiduciary Trust Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Fiduciary Trust Co's holdings in Microsoft were worth $288,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 84,346 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $37,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 968,000 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $421,899,000 after acquiring an additional 26,024 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $415.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $432.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 34.38%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.

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