Campbell Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 7,703 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,314,000. Microsoft comprises 0.3% of Campbell Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $421.50 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $428.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.