Rise Advisors LLC Has $2.24 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Rise Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,209 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.1% of Rise Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Rise Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Rebalance LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $423.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $420.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.55. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Company 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.