Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by WestEnd Advisors LLC

WestEnd Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,520 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,886 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.1% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BLVD Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the third quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to be viewed as a long-term AI winner, with commentary highlighting strong AI momentum and bullish options activity around MSFT.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary say Microsoft may still be undervalued on free cash flow even after higher capital spending, supporting the stock’s fundamental case.
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s testimony in the Musk v. Altman trial keeps Microsoft in the spotlight but does not appear to directly change near-term operations. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella takes stand in Musk v. Altman trial
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI reportedly capping revenue-sharing payments to Microsoft at $38 billion raises concern that the economics of the partnership may be less lucrative than investors had expected. OpenAI to cap Microsoft revenue-sharing at $38 billion, The Information reports
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that a Microsoft data center project in East Africa has stalled over payment demands add a smaller but still negative overhang on the company’s cloud expansion plans. Microsoft’s African data center falters on payment demands, Bloomberg News reports

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $412.66 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $397.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $443.93. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.69.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).