Amiral Gestion Buys New Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Amiral Gestion acquired a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,695 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,243,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Amiral Gestion's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Michels Family Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $991,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,638,000. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,890,000. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 20,550 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,662,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wormser Freres Gestion grew its holdings in Microsoft by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Wormser Freres Gestion now owns 18,412 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,863,000 after buying an additional 8,322 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. TD Securities lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $480.24 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $436.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $420.16. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $481.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.

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