Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 211,976 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,632 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.9% of Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $79,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $679,928,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Microsoft by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $295.25 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $414.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $388.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 38.87%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price target (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

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.