Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,277 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 9.1% of Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie raised their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $460.77 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $461.02. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $427.29 and a 200-day moving average of $411.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.