Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is LGT Financial Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

LGT Financial Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,115 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 206 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.9% of LGT Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. LGT Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the first quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 92,790 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,039,000 after buying an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. jvl associates llc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 3,856 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Emprise Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,006,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,749 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Great Waters Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management now owns 4,758 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.68.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.16 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $324.39 and a 52-week high of $468.35. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $419.66 and a 200-day moving average of $424.51.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.