Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Westhampton Capital LLC

Westhampton Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,474 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.9% of Westhampton Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Westhampton Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.3% in the third quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Sonen Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 10,132 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% in the third quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. now owns 937 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Noble Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Noble Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.52.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $413.64 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $275.37 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $415.35 and a 200-day moving average of $383.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

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.