United Advisor Group LLC Has $8.66 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• United Advisor Group LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation by 11.2% in the first quarter, now owning 23,077 shares valued at approximately $8.66 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with estimates now suggesting a potential price target range from $550.00 to $613.00, indicating strong confidence in the stock's performance.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, representing a yield of 0.65%, with a payout ratio of 25.66% currently.

United Advisor Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,077 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,903 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.8% of United Advisor Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. United Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $513.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,103,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,594,816. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $431.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $518.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $551.21.

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.