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

United Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 32,669 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing 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 SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 98,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,758,000 after purchasing an additional 6,328 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 3,279 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,070,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $517,935,000 after purchasing an additional 60,024 shares in the last quarter. WorthPointe LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. WorthPointe LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 15,843 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,662,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents 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 insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $420.93 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $396.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $445.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories 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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Microsoft to $502.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Arete Research raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.44.

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).