Raymond James Trust CO. of NH Sells 406 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Raymond James Trust CO. of NH lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,348 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 406 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.7% of Raymond James Trust CO. of NH’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Raymond James Trust CO. of NH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 35,465.9% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Microsoft by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 348.6% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,998,927 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $894,426,000 after purchasing an additional 9,324,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $421.43 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $409.64 and a 200 day moving average of $373.65. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $272.05 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $466.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $465.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $423.34.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by 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.