Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 284,203 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 6.2% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $147,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,816,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% in the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $457,119,000 after acquiring an additional 33,382 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% in the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,700,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched the Maia 200 AI inference chip, which the company says delivers roughly 30% better performance-per-dollar and will be deployed in U.S. data centers — a direct play on lowering inference costs, improving gross margins for Azure/Copilot, and reducing reliance on third-party GPUs. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Sell‑side and independent analysts are broadly bullish ahead of Q2, forecasting strong Azure and AI adoption that could drive another “robust” quarter; several previews expect revenue and AI‑driven growth to beat or justify premium multiples. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming Q2 earnings (Jan. 28) and the Fed meeting make this a volatile catalyst week — investors are focused on forward guidance and margins (not just trailing revenue), so the stock could swing on the tone of management’s commentary. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price‑target moves are mixed: some firms trimmed targets (Bank of America lowered its PT), while others maintain buy/outperform ratings — this produces conflicting near‑term signals despite a generally bullish long‑term view. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: a class‑action suit targets an AI hiring tool (Eightfold) used by Microsoft and others, raising headline risk around AI product governance and potential reputational/legal costs. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $690.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $611.87.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $470.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.45, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $477.94 and a 200 day moving average of $500.97.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft 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).