Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 291,317 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,121 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.8% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $109,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,633,912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,150,160 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $679,928,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $410.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $413.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $392.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $306.26 and a 12 month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

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.