Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Riverwater Partners LLC

Key Points

• Riverwater Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 19.4% during the first quarter, now holding 5,145 shares valued at approximately $1.93 million, making it the fund's 25th largest position.
• Several other institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in Microsoft, including GAMMA Investing LLC with a 40,290.4% increase, now owning approximately $17.53 billion in Microsoft shares.
• Microsoft reported earnings of $3.46 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue of $70.07 billion, representing a 13.3% increase year-over-year.

Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 19.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,145 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 836 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.0% of Riverwater Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Riverwater Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fosun International Ltd raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 4.2%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $21.65 on Thursday, reaching $534.89. 22,422,721 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,175,734. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business's fifty day moving average price is $486.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $433.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $625.00 price target (up previously from $550.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $582.00 price objective (up from $530.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $598.61.

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.