G&S Capital LLC Buys 8,393 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

G&S Capital LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 121.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,319 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,393 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.7% of G&S Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. G&S Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a long-term partnership with Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN to bring Arabic-language ALLAM AI models to Microsoft Foundry and Microsoft 365 Copilot. The agreement strengthens Microsoft’s enterprise-AI reach in the Middle East and could support additional Azure and Copilot adoption. Microsoft Expands Middle East AI Footprint Through Long-Term HUMAIN Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and ChronoScale reportedly plan a 50-megawatt AI-compute deployment using NVIDIA GB300 systems. The project signals continued demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure, although it also implies substantial near-term capital spending. ChronoScale and Microsoft Plan 50 MW AI Compute Deployment
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Superintelligence team is pursuing internally developed frontier models and greater AI self-sufficiency. Building proprietary models could reduce dependence on outside providers and improve long-term economics if execution is successful. Microsoft AI Self-Sufficiency Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square reportedly made Microsoft its largest AI-related holding after reducing Alphabet exposure, adding an influential vote of confidence in Microsoft’s cloud, AI and backlog outlook. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Microsoft Investment

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8%

Microsoft stock opened at $505.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $428.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.73.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.27.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).