Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) by 3.2%, selling 46,000 shares and holding approximately 1.38 million shares valued at around $687 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased or established positions in Microsoft, with 71.13% of the stock owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for November 20th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,381,989 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 46,000 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 7.5% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $687,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $509.23 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $512.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $459.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.33, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

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.

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