California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,233,688 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 454,600 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.4% of California Public Employees Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.26% of Microsoft worth $8,106,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $470.38. 15,271,762 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,491,705. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $473.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $415.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $416.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

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.