Country Trust Bank Has $205.10 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Country Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 458,890 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.2% of Country Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $205,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Rebalance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $409.44 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $430.25 and its 200 day moving average is $423.01. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

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.