Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 225,191 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,576 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.6% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $94,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.89.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $478.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $425.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $418.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $480.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.