Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Increased by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, adding 35,565 shares to bring its total to 248,399 shares worth about $120.1 million.
• Microsoft remains a widely held institutional name, with hedge funds and other investors making new purchases or expanding positions; institutions own 71.13% of the stock.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on MSFT, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $560.88, while the company also continues to report strong earnings and revenue growth.

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,399 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 35,565 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Vest Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $120,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a large new Microsoft stake, signaling strong confidence in MSFT’s long-term AI and cloud growth prospects. Billionaire Bill Ackman Just Made a Massive Bet on Microsoft. Here's Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to argue Microsoft remains a strong long-term compounder, with some saying the stock looks cheaper than it has in years on a cash-flow basis. Is Microsoft Stock a Steal Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say Microsoft’s move away from an overly dependent OpenAI relationship could be beneficial over time because customers increasingly want access to multiple AI models rather than one exclusive partner. Why Microsoft's Split With OpenAI May Be Great for the Stock in the Long Run

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. President Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $418.57 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $399.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $436.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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