Rialto Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,439 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,400,000. Microsoft comprises 1.5% of Rialto Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 18,820 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,933,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 20,117 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,480,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 50,341 shares of the software giant's stock worth $21,219,000 after acquiring an additional 7,720 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 781,013 shares of the software giant's stock worth $329,197,000 after acquiring an additional 10,683 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,847,194 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,200,274,000 after acquiring an additional 47,933 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $453.13. 21,913,513 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,510,806. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $392.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $412.14.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $509.16.

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.