Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Arlington Trust Co LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Arlington Trust Co LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,882 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 165 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.2% of Arlington Trust Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 61,721 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,169,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 567,924 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $223,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares during the period. Instrumental Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Instrumental Wealth LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,510.4% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 78,081 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,311,000 after purchasing an additional 77,917 shares during the period. Finally, Equita Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,350 shares of company stock worth $14,162,567 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $520.17 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $502.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $441.19. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.