Missouri Trust & Investment Co Boosts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,848 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 10.2% of Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.54.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $393.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $416.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $421.85. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $381.00 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.