B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 29,245 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 210,855 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 29,245 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.9% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $88,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of MSFT traded down $2.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $477.40. 37,241,095 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,515,262. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $437.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $420.40. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $483.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, 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 quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

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.