Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Has $330.54 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 784,197 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 17,752 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.4% of Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $330,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $477.40 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $437.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $420.47. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $483.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.