Bellecapital International Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bellecapital International Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,358 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,858 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.5% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,209 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after purchasing an additional 5,366 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $431.03.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $411.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $415.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $384.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

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.