Ulland Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ulland Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,838 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 904 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.8% of Ulland Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $534.14.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $503.32 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $470.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.67. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $506.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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