Westpac Banking Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,103,788 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 35,738 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.9% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $264,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Microsoft by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after purchasing an additional 196,338 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $1,186,410.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at $196,272,990. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $1,186,410.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at $196,272,990. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,848 shares of company stock worth $16,635,227. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $318.34 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $290.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $213.43 and a 52-week high of $319.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $52.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.98% and a net margin of 33.25%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 29.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $263.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $325.00 to $340.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.28.

About Microsoft

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Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.