Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Lbp Am Sa's Largest Position

LBP AM SA decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 48.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 475,268 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 454,316 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 8.0% of LBP AM SA's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. LBP AM SA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $199,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Argus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $8.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $415.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,140,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,909,693. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $435.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.