Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is West Coast Financial LLC’s 8th Largest Position

West Coast Financial LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,477 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of West Coast Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $399.73 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $422.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.01. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,203,211.24. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,070,340 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.