Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 40,290.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.2% of GAMMA Investing LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.63% of Microsoft worth $17,528,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 28,753 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,794,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 59,713 shares of the software giant's stock worth $22,416,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the first quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 24,443 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,176,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 77,005 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,907,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exeter Financial LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the first quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 19,847 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,450,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $521.14.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

MSFT traded down $1.51 on Friday, hitting $495.94. 34,519,707 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,630,309. The stock's fifty day moving average is $449.47 and its 200-day moving average is $421.93. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $499.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

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.