Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,796,545 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,037 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.3% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $757,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $470.38. 15,268,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,465,117. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $473.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's 50 day moving average is $415.43 and its 200-day moving average is $416.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.