Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,018 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.5% of Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.63.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $517.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $512.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $467.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.