Global Trust Asset Management LLC Has $6.56 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Global Trust Asset Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,245 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.4% of Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,366,000 after buying an additional 1,865,996 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $436.60 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $427.02 and a 200-day moving average of $428.32.

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

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.46.

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.