Bamco Inc. NY Sells 29,257 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 334,758 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 29,257 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $166,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 6,883,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,424,043,000 after acquiring an additional 111,500 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,563,843 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,267,910,000 after purchasing an additional 28,701 shares during the period. Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda increased its stake in Microsoft by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 13,213 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC now owns 5,384 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,678,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gould Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 10,413 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,180,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $478.53 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $504.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $502.05. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $675.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.34.

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.