Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s Largest Position

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,202 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,907 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.2% of CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $417.14 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $431.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $422.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.