Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,021,390 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,770 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.6% of Arizona State Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $688,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% during the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $97,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.11.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Microsoft Trading Down 1.7 %
MSFT opened at $369.85 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $336.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $219.35 and a twelve month high of $376.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.
About Microsoft
(Free Report)
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.
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