Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,740 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.7% of Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $409.44 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $430.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $423.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Argus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Company 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.