Lincoln Capital LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Lincoln Capital LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,867 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,038 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.2% of Lincoln Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Lincoln Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $614.45.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $517.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $512.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.45. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Microsoft 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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