Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC Has $7.99 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,253 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,118 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.5% of Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $351,001,000 after acquiring an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.52.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $421.90 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $415.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.55. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 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.