Riverbridge Partners LLC Sells 18,896 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Riverbridge Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 669,185 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 18,896 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.9% of Riverbridge Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $227,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Partners grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Stevens Capital Partners now owns 1,516 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,577 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,602,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 4,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV grew its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,166 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $337.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $366.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $326.98 and a 200 day moving average of $325.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 29.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $335.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.

Microsoft 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.