Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,971 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,615 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,007,285,000 after purchasing an additional 636,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $432.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 34.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

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.