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

West Coast Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,122 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 904 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.7% of West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $446.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $424.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $410.15. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $456.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.