NFJ Investment Group LLC Buys 23,627 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

NFJ Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 39.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 83,417 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,627 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.5% of NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ARK & TLK Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Fischer Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction 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 represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $399.76 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $411.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is getting credit for continued AI momentum, including a new coding model, a quantum-computing milestone with Quantinuum, and new availability of NuPlay in the Microsoft Marketplace, all of which reinforce the company’s long-term platform strength. Article: Microsoft (MSFT) and Quantinuum (QNT) Hit Quantum Milestone, Moving Closer to Commercial Reality
• Positive Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments that Xbox must become “sustainable” were interpreted as a sign Microsoft is willing to push for better margins and discipline in its gaming business. Article: Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Jumps as CEO Satya Nadella Says Xbox Needs to Become ‘Sustainable’
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators continue to argue that Microsoft’s valuation reset could make the stock more attractive, especially if AI, cloud, and quantum investments eventually accelerate growth. Article: Microsoft’s Giant’s Valuation Reset Creates a Real Dilemma
• Neutral Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s portfolio shifts and broader market chatter around AI leaders reflect ongoing institutional debate about Microsoft’s role in the AI trade, but do not directly change the business outlook. Article: Microsoft or Alphabet: Billionaire Bill Ackman Goes All In on One AI Stock, Dumps the Other
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing a shareholder lawsuit alleging it failed to disclose slowing Azure growth and the need for heavy AI infrastructure spending, which raises concerns about margins, transparency, and near-term cloud execution. Article: Microsoft sued by shareholders over expenses, cloud business, AI
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have launched securities-fraud investigations and class-action efforts against Microsoft, adding legal overhang and headline risk for investors. Article: Securities Fraud Investigation Into Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Announced
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing shutdowns or spin-out options for parts of Xbox, plus insider-selling headlines, reinforce investor worries that some businesses may need restructuring and tighter cost control. Article: Report: Microsoft weighing up spinning off Xbox

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Arete Research upped their price target on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

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).