Columbia River Financial Group LLC Invests $1.69 Million in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Columbia River Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,012 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,691,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.2% of Columbia River Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of MSFT opened at $480.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $481.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $434.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $419.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.

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