Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. Sells 11,745 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 227,708 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 11,745 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.0% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $101,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Rebalance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7 %

MSFT stock opened at $411.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $353.35 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.