WestEnd Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• WestEnd Advisors LLC reduced its Microsoft stake by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,886 shares and leaving it with 97,520 shares valued at about $47.2 million.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 18.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, and analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $562.69.

WestEnd Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,520 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,886 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.1% of WestEnd Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. WestEnd Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $412.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $397.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $443.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to be viewed as a long-term AI winner, with commentary highlighting strong AI momentum and bullish options activity around MSFT.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary say Microsoft may still be undervalued on free cash flow even after higher capital spending, supporting the stock’s fundamental case.
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s testimony in the Musk v. Altman trial keeps Microsoft in the spotlight but does not appear to directly change near-term operations. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella takes stand in Musk v. Altman trial
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI reportedly capping revenue-sharing payments to Microsoft at $38 billion raises concern that the economics of the partnership may be less lucrative than investors had expected. OpenAI to cap Microsoft revenue-sharing at $38 billion, The Information reports
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that a Microsoft data center project in East Africa has stalled over payment demands add a smaller but still negative overhang on the company’s cloud expansion plans. Microsoft's African data center falters on payment demands, Bloomberg News reports

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. China Renaissance decreased their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $562.69.

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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