Trinity Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,019 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.7% of Trinity Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after buying an additional 43,327 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 161,605 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $67,991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 68,881 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,980,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 54,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,095,000 after acquiring an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This represents a 10.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $422.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Microsoft Company 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.