Trust Co. of Vermont Has $67.30 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,974 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 19,481 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.5% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $67,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Microsoft by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $448.37 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $450.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $418.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $405.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.83.

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.