Payden & Rygel Has $23.57 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Payden & Rygel lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,730 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,400 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.6% of Payden & Rygel’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Gambit Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,253,000. Verde Capital Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Verde Capital Management now owns 7,444 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,600,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,971 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Aerodigm Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Aerodigm Wealth LLC now owns 9,459 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stronghold Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $2,554,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday. They issued a “market outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Build 2026 announcements and related coverage continued to reinforce the company’s AI growth story, including new in-house models, agent tools, Windows upgrades, and enterprise AI infrastructure that could deepen its competitive position. Analysts Say Buy Microsoft Stock (MSFT) after Build 2026 Reinforces AI Growth Story
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Microsoft’s AI revenue run rate crossing $37 billion, suggesting strong monetization from Azure, Copilot, and enterprise AI offerings. Microsoft’s AI Revenue Run Rate Just Crossed $37 Billion. Is It the Best AI Stock to Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains supportive, with TD Cowen reiterating a buy rating and a $540 target, while other analysts and investors continue to frame Microsoft as a durable long-term AI and cloud leader. The Market Is Undervaluing Microsoft, Says Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s bullish comments comparing Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon to long-term compounding opportunities also added to the constructive investment narrative around MSFT. Billionaire Investor Bill Ackman: Buying Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon Today Could Be Like Adding Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway 25 Years Ago
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced Reid Hoffman will leave its board after nearly a decade; the move appears planned, though it removes a board member closely associated with the LinkedIn/OpenAI relationship. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to step down from Microsoft’s board
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also attracting attention for broader AI ecosystem developments, including fusion power support from Helion and network-security integration for AI agents, which are positive long-term but not immediate stock catalysts. Helion, the Sam Altman-backed fusion startup, raises $465M to build a power plant for Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Several pieces flagged technical weakness in Microsoft’s chart and said the stock’s recent rejection at resistance could weigh on the broader software trade. Microsoft Stock Charts Look Vulnerable. Software Stocks Could Follow.
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary around Satya Nadella rebuking an internal “make people addicted” AI memo and renewed concern over Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI may be creating some short-term reputational and partnership noise. Reid Hoffman to Leave Microsoft’s Board of Directors

Microsoft Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.67 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $407.63 and its 200-day moving average is $432.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

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).