Westwind Capital Has $7.27 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Westwind Capital lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 71.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,268 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 39,804 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.6% of Westwind Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Westwind Capital’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,591,126,000 after purchasing an additional 277,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $432.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.67. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Microsoft 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.