Moody National Bank Trust Division Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Moody National Bank Trust Division decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,882 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,027 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Moody National Bank Trust Division's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Moody National Bank Trust Division's holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 100,883 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,265,000 after purchasing an additional 9,681 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 207,854 shares of the software giant's stock worth $87,610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 36,465 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,370,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 23,806 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the software giant's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $5.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $410.36. 13,673,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,098,506. The stock's fifty day moving average is $425.98 and its 200 day moving average is $422.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 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, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.96.

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.