Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $169.43 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 401,965 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 25,685 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Microsoft were worth $169,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $10.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $460.69. 20,932,633 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,585,267. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's fifty day moving average price is $403.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $414.03.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.