B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 36,969 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,100 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 36,969 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.8% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $102,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $408.43 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $429.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.04. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.