Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,136 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,043 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.8% of Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Microsoft by 9.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after buying an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $452.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $422.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $408.83. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $456.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.