Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Boosted by Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,943 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.2% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $483.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $507.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.95. 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 $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Rothschild Redb downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Baird R W upgraded Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.33.

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.