AMG National Trust Bank Purchases 12,994 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,994 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.0% of AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Financial Advisory bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $204,000. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the second quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 20,957 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,367,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Dodds Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 3,119 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 33,299 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,883,000 after acquiring an additional 4,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Argus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.94.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $428.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $419.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.06. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.