Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is United Advisor Group LLC's 6th Largest Position

United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,669 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.0% of United Advisor Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. United Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.7%

Microsoft stock opened at $420.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $396.79 and a 200 day moving average of $445.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Street‑high analyst views and big upside targets are supporting the stock — at least one note sees ~60% upside and another firm raised its target to $870, boosting sentiment. MSFT price target article Arete Research boost
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: Cryder Capital, Fisher Asset Management and others have added MSFT shares recently — an inflow signal that can prop up the stock. Cryder buy Fisher Asset boost
• Positive Sentiment: Product and go‑to‑market momentum: Dynamics 365 API integrations and partner wins (FPT Frontier designation) strengthen Azure/enterprise monetization and cross‑sell opportunities. Dynamics 365 API Integration FPT Frontier Partner
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market commentary: Paul Tudor Jones warns the AI‑led bull market may have "another two years" before a major correction — a cautionary note that can increase volatility but isn't MSFT‑specific. Paul Tudor Jones on AI market
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce/ops moves: Microsoft rolled out voluntary retirement/buyout details — could cut long‑term costs but entails near‑term severance and program costs. Internal buyout offer
• Negative Sentiment: Margins and capex pressure: Analysts and reports flag temporary margin headwinds from heavy AI spending and a large capex guide — this is the primary near‑term risk to earnings and multiples. Margins headwind
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/ESG risk: Bloomberg/TechCrunch reports that Microsoft may delay or scale back its 2030 hourly clean‑energy matching target as AI data‑center growth raises power use — this creates regulatory, PR and investor‑sentiment risk. Clean energy target risks

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.