Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Riverbridge Partners LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Riverbridge Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 625,753 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 16,253 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.1% of Riverbridge Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $235,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,888 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Sage Financial Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $504,000. RVW Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. RVW Wealth LLC now owns 6,128 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 2,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $295.25 and a one year high of $430.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $414.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $388.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 38.87%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company 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.