Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,796,545 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,037 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.3% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $757,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its position in Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $463.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $413.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $415.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Microsoft Company 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.