Amiral Gestion Has $30.92 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Amiral Gestion grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 71.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,170 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 25,860 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 13.3% of Amiral Gestion’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Amiral Gestion’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $3,006,000. Troy Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 853,554 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $424,566,000 after purchasing an additional 6,191 shares during the period. NWF Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,773 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Prospera Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,258,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $476.39 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $502.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $502.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.03.

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.