Umpqua Bank Has $15.97 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Umpqua Bank grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,420 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,051 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.5% of Umpqua Bank's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Umpqua Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. TD Securities lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0%

MSFT traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $458.77. The company had a trading volume of 34,758,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,610,607. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $407.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $414.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.