Uniting Wealth Partners LLC Buys Shares of 14,509 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,509 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $6,115,000. Microsoft makes up about 3.0% of Uniting Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $470.38 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $473.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $417.20 and its 200-day moving average is $416.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.