PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Buys New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,136,781 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,598,000. Microsoft accounts for about 5.7% of PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of MSFT opened at $450.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $402.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $434.62.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $615.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were 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 directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate 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).