RIA Advisory Group LLC Purchases 2,830 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• RIA Advisory Group LLC boosted its Microsoft stake by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 2,830 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 16,229 shares worth about $7.85 million.
• Microsoft continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with 71.13% of shares owned by institutions and hedge funds, while several analysts remain bullish despite some mixed target-price revisions.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share payable on June 11.

RIA Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,229 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,830 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.9% of RIA Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. RIA Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BLVD Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. ARK & TLK Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the third quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup lifted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $505.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial cut Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $450.24 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $402.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $434.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

About Microsoft

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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