Unified Investment Management Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,286 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,228,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.5% of Unified Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $438.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $389.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $411.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company 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.