Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Diversified Trust Co

Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,844 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,378 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.3% of Diversified Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $93,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 21,077 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Ridgeline Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $307,000. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 10,135 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. now owns 15,268 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,436,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advance Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,452 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,984,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $408.43 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $428.76 and a 200-day moving average of $422.92. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.