AHL Investment Management Inc. Has $7.91 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

AHL Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,789 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.1% of AHL Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. AHL Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Financial Security Advisor Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Microsoft by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $460.77 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $426.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.42. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $461.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.