Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Decreased by RIHO Partners LLC

Key Points

• RIHO Partners LLC cut its Microsoft stake by 38.7% in the first quarter, selling 15,291 shares and retaining 24,240 shares valued at approximately $8.97 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, surpassing analyst estimates, with revenue up 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a broadly bullish outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $560.27 price target.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to $3.64 annually and a 0.7% yield; recent insider activity included executives selling shares.

RIHO Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 38.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,240 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 15,291 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.6% of RIHO Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. RIHO Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock worth $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 8.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares during the period. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after purchasing an additional 788,297 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. President Capital lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, May 4th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $496.88 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $409.70 and a 200 day moving average of $407.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China
• Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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).

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