Riverstone Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Riverstone Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,485 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of Riverstone Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Bayesian Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $550,086,000 after purchasing an additional 5,253 shares during the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 296.7% during the first quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264 shares during the period. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $9,538,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $435.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $420.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at $61,843,807.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. New Street Research initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

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.