Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Reduced by Haverford Trust Co

Haverford Trust Co lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,233,906 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,538 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.2% of Haverford Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $530,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.53.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $429.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $429.19 and its 200 day moving average is $426.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.