West Tower Group LLC Takes $506,000 Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,200 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $506,000. Microsoft accounts for about 1.1% of West Tower Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,102,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,742,000. Saiph Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 4,262 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,675,000. Finally, Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,553,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $1.32 on Thursday, hitting $458.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,971,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,584,780. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $407.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $414.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.