Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 407 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,471 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 407 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 7.2% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Professional Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the first quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 82,199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $34,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 6.8% in the first quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 13,867 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,834,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the period. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the first quarter. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 18,969 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $7.28 on Friday, hitting $406.32. 29,640,094 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,152,042. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $295.25 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $387.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.87% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

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.