Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 100.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,433 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.6% of Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $421.92 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $398.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $440.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman revealed a new multi-billion-dollar stake in Microsoft (MSFT), saying the company looks attractively valued and highlighting Azure, Microsoft 365, and AI as key growth drivers. Reuters: Ackman’s Pershing Square takes stake in Microsoft, citing ‘compelling’ valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continued to argue that Microsoft’s AI infrastructure, Azure growth, and OpenAI exposure could support further upside, with some seeing the stock’s weaker recent performance as a buying opportunity. TipRanks: Microsoft Buy Rating Reiterated as AI and Cloud Momentum Builds
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also announced a board addition, appointing former EY chief Carmine Di Sibio to its board of directors, which is a governance update but not an immediate operating catalyst. PR Newswire: Microsoft announces appointment of Carmine Di Sibio to board of directors
• Negative Sentiment: The UK opened an antitrust probe into Microsoft’s business software and cloud practices, creating a potential regulatory overhang for the stock. Reuters: UK opens antitrust probe into Microsoft’s business software
• Negative Sentiment: LinkedIn, a Microsoft-owned unit, announced 5% workforce cuts, reinforcing that the company is still trimming costs even as it ramps AI spending. Reuters: LinkedIn to lay off 5% of workforce amid tech industry cuts

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Dbs Bank decreased their price target on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. HSBC reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research upped their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.88.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).