Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s Largest Position

Key Points

• Montrusco Bolton Investments trimmed its Microsoft stake by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, but Microsoft remains its largest holding, representing about 9.5% of the portfolio and worth roughly $759.5 million.
• Microsoft continues to draw bullish attention for its AI and cloud leadership, with commentary highlighting Azure growth, Copilot demand, and its reworked OpenAI partnership as a net positive.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, beating expectations on both earnings and revenue, while analysts largely remain positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $560.88.

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,613,524 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 104,742 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 9.5% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $759,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Microsoft’s restructured OpenAI partnership looks like a net positive rather than a setback, reinforcing the view that MSFT remains a key beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption. Wedbush Views Microsoft (MSFT)’s Restructured OpenAI Partnership As Net Positive Rather Than Strategic Failure
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still being framed as a leading AI and cloud winner, with commentary highlighting Azure growth, Copilot demand, and broader enterprise AI spending as long-term drivers. Wedbush Views Microsoft (MSFT)’s Restructured OpenAI Partnership As Net Positive Rather Than Strategic Failure
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is also attracting investor attention as a preferred AI holding, with one high-profile investor reportedly rotating out of Alphabet and into MSFT, which can be seen as a vote of confidence in the stock’s AI positioning. This Famous Investor Just Sold All Of His Alphabet Stock and Loaded Up On Microsoft Stock. Should You?
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a large purchase of 650,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits, suggesting continued investment in sustainability initiatives that may support its long-term corporate image and compliance goals. Microsoft's carbon removal plans aren't dead after all
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests Microsoft may be undervalued after a recent pullback, but that view is still debated and depends on whether AI spending translates into sustained earnings growth. Why Bill Ackman Thinks the Selloff in Microsoft Stock Is Misguided
• Negative Sentiment: The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a probe into Microsoft’s software practices, creating a regulatory overhang that could pressure sentiment if scrutiny expands. UK CMA Opens Probe Into Microsoft (MSFT) Software Practices
• Negative Sentiment: GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft, confirmed a security incident involving stolen internal repositories, adding a cybersecurity headline that could weigh on the stock near term. GitHub confirms 3,800 internal repos stolen through poisoned VS Code extension as supply chain worm hits Microsoft's Python SDK

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $421.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $398.83 and a 200 day moving average of $438.30.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

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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