Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Has $163.59 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 380,179 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,975 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.2% of Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $163,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 91,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $37,351,000 after purchasing an additional 5,611 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 48,896 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,040,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,992 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,578,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 829,883 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $357,099,000 after purchasing an additional 26,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 13.4% in the third quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $417.00 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $421.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.