PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Invests $2.02 Billion in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab disclosed a new stake in Microsoft, buying 4.14 million shares valued at about $2.02 billion. Microsoft is now its third-largest holding and makes up 5.7% of the portfolio.
• Microsoft’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue rising 18.3% year over year to $82.89 billion. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on MSFT, with 39 Buy ratings and an average price target of $560.88. Recent commentary continues to point to strength in Azure, Microsoft 365, and AI-related products.

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,136,781 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,016,598,000. Microsoft comprises 5.7% of PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab owned approximately 0.06% of Microsoft at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. China Renaissance dropped their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. DZ Bank restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.88.

More 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

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ 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. The company has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average is $402.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.62. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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).

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