Bull Street Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bull Street Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,774 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 72 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.6% of Bull Street Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Bull Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Effects LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 20,792 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,819,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Sutton Place Investors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 245.3% in the fourth quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC now owns 10,677 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,015,000 after acquiring an additional 7,585 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $186,078,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1,070.7% in the fourth quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 39,545 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,870,000 after acquiring an additional 36,167 shares during the period. Finally, Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,407 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $409.34 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $413.84 and its 200 day moving average is $392.05. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $306.09 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 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, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.