Amalgamated Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,606,519 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 33,901 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.2% of Amalgamated Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $603,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 83.1% during the 1st quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,430 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 7,005 shares in the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 15,730 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Innovative Wealth Building LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Innovative Wealth Building LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the software giant's stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 26,471 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,937,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthstar Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the first quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC now owns 2,349 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $529.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company's fifty day moving average price is $499.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $439.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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