St. Louis Trust Co Sells 204 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

St. Louis Trust Co cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,399 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. St. Louis Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.30.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Microsoft stock opened at $454.27 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $395.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.