Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires 14,063 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its Microsoft holdings by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 14,063 additional shares and bringing its position to 119,286 shares valued at about $57.7 million.
• Microsoft continues to receive broadly bullish analyst coverage, with 41 analysts rating it a Buy and only six Hold ratings; the consensus price target is $561.20.
• The company recently topped expectations on earnings and revenue, reporting $4.27 EPS versus $4.06 expected and $82.89 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,286 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 14,063 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $57,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $502.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $561.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $379.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $412.27 and a 200-day moving average of $425.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly building a more than $1 billion annual AI and cloud business with ByteDance in China, underscoring strong demand for its Azure and OpenAI-related services. Microsoft Scores Massive China AI Win as TikTok Parent Eyes $1 Billion Spend
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s push to monetize ChatGPT with ads highlights continued AI commercialization, which may support sentiment around Microsoft’s OpenAI stake and AI strategy. OpenAI Brings ChatGPT Ads to Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is said to be moving Copilot to usage-based pricing and exploring cheaper AI models, a sign it is trying to improve margins as AI infrastructure costs rise. Microsoft (MSFT) Moves Copilot To Usage Based Pricing As AI Costs Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say investors are increasingly worried about Microsoft’s AI valuation, spending, and monetization, which is weighing on the stock. Microsoft Faces AI Expectations Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing securities class-action lawsuits and investigations over alleged misleading AI-related statements, adding legal uncertainty. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal suggest possible friction in securing additional cloud capacity. Why Microsoft Stock Slumped Today

About Microsoft

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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