Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Chatham Capital Group Inc.

Chatham Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,761 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.3% of Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $411.84 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $415.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $384.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $431.03.

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.