Trust Co. of Vermont Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 227,728 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,682 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.3% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $113,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ninety One North America Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 275,263 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $136,919,000 after buying an additional 90,713 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in Microsoft by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 7,498,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,729,766,000 after buying an additional 511,401 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 19,668 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,783,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Rogco LP increased its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rogco LP now owns 10,520 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,233,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Point Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pacific Point Advisors LLC now owns 11,061 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,502,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $618.97.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $513.58 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.65, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $511.82 and its 200 day moving average is $477.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.