WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Has $2.36 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,290 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 511 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.5% of WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $551.21.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $2.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $513.71. The company had a trading volume of 19,103,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,594,816. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $483.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $431.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $518.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.