Arlington Trust Co LLC Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Arlington Trust Co LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,498 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,940 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.9% of Arlington Trust Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Community Trust NA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 20,517 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,632,000 after buying an additional 1,121 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,087 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,709,000. Private Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 7,452 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,802,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCIA Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.5% during the first quarter. MCIA Inc now owns 3,398 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.60 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $326.94 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $420.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value 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 $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.58.

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.