Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by River Street Advisors LLC

Key Points

• River Street Advisors LLC has increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 5.3%, owning a total of 13,129 shares, which represent 2.4% of its portfolio.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with average estimates now around $551.21, reflecting a bullish outlook on the stock.
• Microsoft recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 0.65% and indicating strong financial health.

River Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,129 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.4% of River Street Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. River Street Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $513.24. The stock had a trading volume of 25,399,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,947,285. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $518.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $486.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $433.33. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $555.86.

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.