Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is United Advisor Group LLC’s 5th Largest Position

United Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 38.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,879 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,950 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.4% of United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $428.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $369.01 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value 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 $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.