Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Buys 7,494 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,427,989 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 7,494 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.2% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $536,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GGM Financials LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.7% during the first quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. OLIO Financial Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the first quarter. OLIO Financial Planning now owns 1,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Seneca House Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the first quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 30,784 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,556,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the first quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 39,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,784,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 71,431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $498.25 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $500.76. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $461.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $524.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.