Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by PFG Investments LLC

Key Points

• PFG Investments LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 4.6% in the first quarter, adding 5,952 shares and bringing its holdings to 134,176 shares worth about $49.7 million.
• Microsoft continues to attract broad institutional support, with institutional investors owning 71.13% of the stock, even as several executives recently sold shares in the company.
• The company is leaning harder into AI and cloud growth, including sales efforts around its AI products, a strategic partnership with 3M, and a $2.5 billion initiative to help customers deploy AI systems.

PFG Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,176 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,952 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.3% of PFG Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $49,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing sales teams to sell its AI offerings as a more secure and lower-cost alternative to OpenAI and Anthropic, highlighting its ability to monetize enterprise demand and defend its AI ecosystem. Microsoft Coaches Sales Staff to Challenge OpenAI and Anthropic on Costs and Security
• Positive Sentiment: 3M announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft tied to Azure data centers and enterprise transformation, which adds another validation point for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure strategy. 3M and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is overhauling its cybersecurity business to capture more spending from AI-driven threats, which could open a new growth lane as customers increase security budgets. Microsoft (MSFT) Overhauls Cybersecurity Business to Cash In on AI Threats
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a $2.5 billion initiative to help large customers deploy AI systems around their own data and workflows, reinforcing its enterprise AI moat. How Microsoft (MSFT) Is Deepening Its Enterprise AI Moat With a $2.5 Billion Customer Deployment Initiative

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC decreased their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $557.96.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.8%

MSFT stock opened at $395.63 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $401.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $412.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

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).

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