Castellan Group Has $9.10 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Castellan Group increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,154 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.8% of Castellan Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Castellan Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $410.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $430.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.