Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Brown Advisory Inc.'s Largest Position

Key Points

• Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its Microsoft stake by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, but MSFT remains its largest holding at about 7.3% of the portfolio, valued at roughly $5.2 billion.
• Microsoft continues to draw strong Wall Street support, with 41 analysts rating it a Buy and only six Hold ratings. The consensus target price is $561.20, though the stock has recently traded below its 50-day and 200-day averages.
• The company reported solid quarterly results, including EPS of $4.27 versus estimates of $4.06 and revenue growth of 18.3% year over year. Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, underscoring its cash generation.

Brown Advisory Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,751,255 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 628,285 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.3% of Brown Advisory Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 0.14% of Microsoft worth $5,199,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $561.20.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $390.74 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $411.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.95. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s broader AI and cloud story remains intact, with recent commentary highlighting strong Azure demand, continued Copilot momentum, and bullish analyst views that the stock is still attractive long term.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share reinforces Microsoft’s cash generation and shareholder-return profile.
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments about using AI more efficiently and Microsoft’s tighter controls on third-party AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude suggest a focus on governance and cost discipline rather than a direct business setback.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing a spinoff or restructuring of Xbox, along with expected layoffs and budget cuts, are the biggest near-term headwind and are likely weighing on sentiment around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports of job cuts in Microsoft’s Azure unit in China and broader worries about AI infrastructure spending are adding caution about near-term execution and profitability.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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