G&S Capital LLC Has $2.36 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

G&S Capital LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,278 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. G&S Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $500.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $439.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

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.