Crews Bank & Trust Purchases New Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 31,300 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $13,193,000. Microsoft accounts for 2.2% of Crews Bank & Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 321,456 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $135,494,000 after buying an additional 2,783 shares during the period. Busey Bank lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 477,328 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $201,194,000 after acquiring an additional 5,288 shares during the period. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,909 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 13,872 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,847,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. Finally, DMC Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 8,947 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,771,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $391.26 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $376.91 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $408.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.74. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.