Arlington Trust Co LLC Has $12.29 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Arlington Trust Co LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,498 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,940 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.9% of Arlington Trust Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. First Community Trust NA lifted its position in Microsoft by 5.8% in the first quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 20,517 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,632,000 after buying an additional 1,121 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,087 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $45,709,000. Private Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 7,452 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,802,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, MCIA Inc increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.5% during the first quarter. MCIA Inc now owns 3,398 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.60 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $326.94 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $420.33 and a 200 day moving average of $424.56.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.58.

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.