Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Raised by Arlington Trust Co LLC

Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 80.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,414 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,046 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.3% of Arlington Trust Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Caliber Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in Microsoft by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 67,307 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,252,000 after purchasing an additional 13,586 shares during the period. Advance Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% in the third quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,958 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,144,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 108,149 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $34,495,000 after buying an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $402.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $303.40 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $414.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $389.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

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.