LGT Capital Partners LTD. Sells 172,905 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 700,836 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 172,905 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 10.7% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $313,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Bank of America upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $417.14 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $431.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.89.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.