Riverbridge Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Riverbridge Partners LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 2.1%, owning 550,284 shares valued at approximately $206.57 million after selling 11,803 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider sales included EVP Amy Coleman and EVP Kathleen T. Hogan, who sold 13,243 and 21,500 shares, respectively, representing significant decreases in their holdings.
• Microsoft reported a 13.3% year-over-year increase in revenue for its latest quarter, with earnings per share of $3.46, surpassing analysts' estimates.

Riverbridge Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 550,284 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 11,803 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.3% of Riverbridge Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Riverbridge Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $206,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $0.67 during trading 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $518.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $486.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $433.33. The firm 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $545.00 price target (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.86.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.