Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Increased by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 603,146 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,229 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 6.7% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $259,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 901,088 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $387,728,000 after buying an additional 13,315 shares during the last quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 148.9% in the third quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 760,011 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $326,078,000 after purchasing an additional 32,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bluesphere Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC now owns 19,679 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,468,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $447.27 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $364.13 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $424.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.63.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.