Westover Capital Advisors LLC Sells 25 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,104 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.3% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 12.0% during the second quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 7,839 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,504,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,444 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,744,000. RS Crum Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. RS Crum Inc. now owns 5,118 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,287,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.9% in the second quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 11,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,025,000 after buying an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $502.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $431.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $420.84 and a 200-day moving average of $424.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $331.83 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.11%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company 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.