GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 10,642 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 166,226 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 10,642 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.7% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $86,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Melius Research raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MSFT opened at $476.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.89%.

Microsoft 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.