Cambridge Financial Group Inc. Buys New Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cambridge Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 18,582 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $7,832,000. Microsoft accounts for 3.2% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,908,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, Circle Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,956 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $2.70 on Friday, reaching $470.38. 15,268,509 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,465,117. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $473.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $415.43 and a 200 day moving average of $416.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

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.