Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Boosted by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 63.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,071,039 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 803,530 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.2% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $766,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second 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. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to view Microsoft as a high-quality AI and cloud name, with some arguing the stock looks cheaper after the recent decline.
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming earnings later this month could provide a catalyst if Azure growth and AI-related demand remain strong.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft remains a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, but investors are waiting for clearer proof that those investments will translate into faster profit growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s 4,800-job reduction and Xbox restructuring suggest ongoing cost pressure and restructuring challenges.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class-action alerts tied to alleged AI/Copilot disclosure issues are adding legal and reputational risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership and AI product execution are creating uncertainty around the company’s AI narrative.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “market outperform” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.84.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $384.93 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $401.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $412.68. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 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).