West Coast Financial LLC Grows Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

West Coast Financial LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,268 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.5% of West Coast Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $422.99 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $421.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.