Argent Trust Co Buys 5,365 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Argent Trust Co increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 277,466 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,365 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.5% of Argent Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $124,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Microsoft by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.7% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,096,428,000 after purchasing an additional 360,171 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $408.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $420.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.74. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $353.35 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Profile

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.