AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 324,772 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.7%, acquiring an additional 324,772 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $1.68 billion.
• Recent insider sales included CEO Satya Nadella, who sold 149,205 shares for about $75.3 million, reflecting a 15.87% decrease in his position.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Royal Bank of Canada increasing it from $525 to $640, maintaining an "outperform" rating.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,535,142 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 324,772 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.7% of AQR Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,679,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Fosun International Ltd increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.5% during the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the first quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $509.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $510.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued 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 $612.54.

Microsoft 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.

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