Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Boosted by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,380 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,996 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.0% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $106,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.83 on Friday, hitting $513.71. 19,103,456 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,594,816. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $518.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $483.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $431.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $551.21.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft 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.