GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 124,391 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 8,781 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of GAMMA Investing LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $46,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $503.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,454,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,657,924. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $506.78. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $469.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.41. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. UBS Group reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $534.14.

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.