Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Boosted by West Branch Capital LLC

West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,674 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.0% of West Branch Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.0%

Microsoft stock opened at $505.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.07, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $508.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $474.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $427.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $538.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.