West Bancorporation Inc. Has $3.79 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

West Bancorporation Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,131 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.5% of West Bancorporation Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. West Bancorporation Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $66,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 29,789.2% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,477,000 after acquiring an additional 16,515,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $369.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $334.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.83. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $219.35 and a 52-week high of $373.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Partners reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $347.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.45.

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.