Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. Has $94.92 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 225,191 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,576 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.6% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $94,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.89.

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.