Wesbanco Bank Inc. Purchases 1,512 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its Microsoft stake by 0.5% in the first quarter, buying 1,512 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 325,572 shares worth about $120.5 million.
• Microsoft continues to draw strong institutional and analyst support, with 71.13% of shares owned by institutions and a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $560.86.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $4.27 EPS on $82.89 billion in revenue, while also declaring a $0.91 quarterly dividend and seeing ongoing insider share sales.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 325,572 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.3% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $120,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. HSBC cut their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $390.49 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $406.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $417.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a new AI deployment business, Microsoft Frontier Company, backed by $2.5 billion and staffed with about 6,000 engineers and industry experts to help enterprises select, implement, and improve AI tools. Investors are viewing this as a way to accelerate Azure and Copilot adoption while monetizing the enterprise AI buildout. Microsoft launches its own AI deployment company with $2.5 billion commitment
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Microsoft as a top AI and growth stock, while others said the market is rotating from semiconductors back toward software. That is helping sentiment around MSFT as investors look for higher-quality AI beneficiaries with recurring enterprise revenue. Microsoft launches firm to help companies adopt AI with $2.5 billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also reported to be overhauling Copilot to make its AI assistant more useful and easier to justify for customers. That could improve adoption, but it also underscores that AI products must now prove their value. Microsoft’s Copilot Reset Shows AI Tools Must Now Prove Their Worth
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a new undersea cable partnership with Lightstorm to expand India-Southeast Asia connectivity, plus a report that enterprise customers continue to adopt Microsoft’s AI and cloud services. These are strategically helpful, but not immediate catalysts. Microsoft partners with Singapore's Lightstorm to build India-Southeast Asia undersea cable
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment is still being held back by Microsoft’s weak recent stock performance, with articles noting its worst month in more than 25 years and renewed debate about whether the selloff is creating a buying opportunity. Microsoft Had Its Worst Month in More Than 25 Years. Should Investors Buy the Crash?
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing class-action securities litigation over alleged misrepresentations during the class period, which adds a legal overhang and may keep some investors cautious. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Other reports said Microsoft may cut thousands of jobs and that investors are questioning whether its massive AI capital spending can generate enough returns. That uncertainty is weighing on the stock despite the company’s strong long-term fundamentals. Microsoft eyes another wave of layoffs that could hit 5,000 workers next week

About Microsoft

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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