Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP Makes New $71.27 Million Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 167,756 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $71,268,000. Microsoft comprises about 5.9% of Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

MSFT stock traded up $3.81 during trading on Thursday, reaching $467.68. 20,083,146 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,471,689. The firm's 50 day moving average is $413.59 and its 200 day moving average is $415.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $469.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

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.