Moody National Bank Trust Division Purchases 3,395 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,909 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,395 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.0% of Moody National Bank Trust Division’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $846,072,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $422.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.