LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 145,476 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 14,409 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.3% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $72,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% in the first quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $54,376,000 after buying an additional 40,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Well Done LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,930,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 owned by insiders.
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $523.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $511.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $480.95. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.44.
Check Out Our Latest Report on MSFT
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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