Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,698 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.0% of Ledyard National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $54,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 5,318 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 20,796 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,948,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,587 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,457 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,360,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,123 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,635,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $447.27 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $364.13 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $424.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.