LGT Capital Partners LTD. Buys 5,741 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• LGT Capital Partners LTD. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.0%, acquiring an additional 5,741 shares, making the stock their largest holding at approximately $218 million.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $3.65 EPS, surpassing estimates and showing an 18.1% increase in revenue year-over-year to $76.44 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 21st.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 581,398 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 5,741 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 9.7% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $218,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.6%

Microsoft stock opened at $495.00 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $509.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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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