New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Acquires 991 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,051 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.8% of New Covenant Trust Company N.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. New Covenant Trust Company N.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 613,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $314,898,000 after buying an additional 174,601 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 58,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,153,000 after buying an additional 2,159 shares in the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $264,000. HWG Holdings LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the third quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 30,046 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,410,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the third quarter. FSA Investment Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.54.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northern Trust introduced an AI-powered client-onboarding agent running on Microsoft Azure, with Excel and SharePoint integration. The reported reductions in data-preparation time and strong data-quality results illustrate potential enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI tools. Microsoft stock and Northern Trust AI agent
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly becoming more selective about outside AI data-center and neocloud arrangements, including not renewing a cloud contract involving Oracle. Tighter spending could support cash flow, but changes to its infrastructure plans may also raise questions about capacity and execution. Microsoft AI data-center deals
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment remains a key risk: one report said Microsoft’s free cash flow over the last four quarters was about 23% below the prior-year period, amid rising infrastructure spending. A large reported backlog signals demand, but investors will look for that spending to translate into returns. Microsoft backlog, AI capex and neocloud ties
• Negative Sentiment: B&D White Capital, a fund with roughly $1.03 billion in assets, reported selling all its Microsoft shares in the third quarter. The filing is backward-looking and does not establish the fund’s reason for selling, but it may add to near-term sentiment concerns. B&D White Capital share sale

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,504 shares of company stock worth $68,138,024. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $545.18 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $517.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $440.69. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $559.15. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.92 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 19.00%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, and digital solutions for consumers, businesses, and public-sector organizations. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.

Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.

Microsoft serves customers around the world through its products, online platforms, and network of business partners.