Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $1.64 Million Investment in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,886 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $565.00 price target (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, June 13th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $480.24 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $481.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $434.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $419.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

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.