Lincoln Capital Corp Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lincoln Capital Corp decreased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,522 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,392 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 7.8% of Lincoln Capital Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Lincoln Capital Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $520.17 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $502.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $441.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.86.

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.