Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Lowered by LGT Capital Partners LTD.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 626,828 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 74,008 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 9.4% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $269,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $444.06. 15,539,488 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $431.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.54. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

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.