Gallacher Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,599 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $860,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $454.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $401.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.59. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.