Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s Largest Position

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 155,416 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 19,427 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.7% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $65,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $438.73. 15,313,766 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,454,441. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50-day moving average is $389.19 and its 200-day moving average is $411.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

About Microsoft

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.