B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 8,747 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,662 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,747 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.7% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $57,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $397.23 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $452.13 and a 200-day moving average of $488.05.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $392.00 price objective (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $641.00 target price (down previously from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi reiterated a Buy on Microsoft, highlighting continued Copilot adoption and strong Azure growth as reasons the company can outpace the recent sell-off. Microsoft in focus as Citi reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares (~$2M), a behavioral vote of confidence that can help stabilize sentiment among retail/institutional investors. Microsoft Director John Stanton Buys 5,000 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s extended OpenAI revenue arrangement (locking a meaningful share of OpenAI output through 2032) is a multi-year revenue and strategic moat tailwind for AI monetization. As Microsoft extends 20% OpenAI deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced a large long-term commitment to expand AI access in the Global South (reported ~$50B), a growth opportunity that also implies heavy multi-year capex and execution risk. Microsoft to invest $50B in Global South AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships and marketplace traction (e.g., CrowdStrike on Microsoft Marketplace) reinforce enterprise ecosystem stickiness but have limited immediate revenue impact. Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change in gaming: Phil Spencer’s immediate retirement and replacement by Asha Sharma introduces near-term uncertainty for Xbox strategy and investor confidence in the gaming unit. Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer retires
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel downgraded MSFT (Buy→Hold) and cut its price target, citing Azure supply constraints as a near-term growth headwind — a concrete analyst call that can pressure flows and justify further volatility. Stifel flags Azure supply constraints
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh AI quality/security reports (Copilot/Office bug and “AI recommendation poisoning” threats) raise short-term adoption and reputational risk that could delay enterprise deployments and weigh on sentiment. AI recommendation poisoning concerns

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).