Chapman Investment Management LLC Acquires 32 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Chapman Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,712 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 9.3% of Chapman Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Chapman Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $3,314,000. Americana Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 108,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,624,000 after buying an additional 6,633 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 84,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,295 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 36,274 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,609,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.2% during the third quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,565 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $421.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $428.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $428.45. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. 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.