Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Gallacher Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Gallacher Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft by 16.2%, selling 484 shares and now holding 2,502 shares valued at approximately $1.25 million, making Microsoft its 29th largest position.
• Various hedge funds have increased their investments in Microsoft, with key players like Newton One Investments LLC lifting their stake by 66.7% and ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increasing theirs by 155.7% in the first quarter.
• Microsoft's quarterly dividend has increased from $0.83 to $0.91, with the next payment scheduled for December 11th, reflecting a payout ratio of 24.34% and an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Gallacher Capital Management LLC cut its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,502 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 484 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.6% of Gallacher Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Gallacher Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $517.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $511.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $457.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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.