RiverFront Investment Group LLC Buys 14,186 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,685 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 14,186 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.7% of RiverFront Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. RiverFront Investment Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $76,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

Microsoft stock traded up $3.42 on Friday, hitting $471.10. 8,065,047 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,437,772. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $415.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $416.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $473.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

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.