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

LGT Capital Partners LTD. reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 700,836 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 172,905 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 10.7% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $313,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 68,202 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 67,447 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,146,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $224,942,000. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $104,779,000. Finally, CMH Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. CMH Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,724 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $4.02 on Monday, reaching $417.14. 24,308,301 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,766,529. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $431.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $422.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. 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 is currently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.