Unified Investment Management Sells 754 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Unified Investment Management lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,532 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 754 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.0% of Unified Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Unified Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fosun International Ltd boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $522.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $501.60 and its 200-day moving average is $440.51. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.