Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Has $27.33 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 53,744 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 5,670 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.7% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 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 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

MSFT stock opened at $476.39 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $502.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $502.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Guggenheim set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.03.

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.