Bamco Inc. NY Has $166.51 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Bamco Inc. NY lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,758 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 29,257 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $166,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after acquiring an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Melius Research boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.34.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $478.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $504.05 and its 200 day moving average is $502.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.