B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 19,619 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 271,828 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 19,619 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.8% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $102,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 160.7% during the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $448.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $418.19 and its 200-day moving average is $405.31. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $450.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $465.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.