Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,029,326 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,925 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.8% of Arizona State Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $763,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $87,000. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% during the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Family CFO Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $387.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $295.25 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Microsoft Company 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.