Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Boosted by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its Microsoft stake by 0.4% to 372,592 shares, valued at approximately $137.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, beating analyst estimates, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. Azure revenue grew 43% and surpassed $100 billion in annual revenue.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with 42 Buy ratings, six Holds and a consensus price target of $554. Microsoft also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 0.9% yield.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 372,592 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Microsoft were worth $137,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $390.54 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $396.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $405.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $554.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported fiscal Q4 revenue of approximately $90.0 billion, up 18% year over year and above the $87.6 billion consensus estimate. Adjusted earnings of $4.74 per share also exceeded expectations of $4.21, marking the company’s 14th consecutive “double beat.” Microsoft Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Azure revenue grew 43%, exceeding analysts’ expectations of roughly 40%, and the cloud platform surpassed $100 billion in annual revenue. The results eased concerns that Microsoft’s AI infrastructure investments may be outpacing customer demand. Microsoft Tops Quarterly Cloud Growth Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft said Microsoft 365 Copilot reached 30 million paid seats, providing evidence of growing monetization for its AI products. The company also recorded a $3.2 billion gain from its Anthropic investment, although returns from its OpenAI investment were more mixed. Azure Crosses $100 Billion in Annual Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft maintained its AI capital-expenditure outlook rather than following Alphabet’s recent increase. Investors viewed the spending discipline as supportive of margins and free cash flow, while first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $89.9 billion to $91.0 billion was slightly above consensus. Microsoft Keeps Capex Forecast Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors had positioned for an unusually large post-earnings move, with options implying roughly a 6% to 7% swing. This elevated volatility reflects the importance of Microsoft’s results to the broader AI investment theme.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces a U.K. regulatory investigation into whether customers were misled about Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscription pricing. The probe creates potential reputational and compliance risks, though its near-term financial impact is unclear. UK Regulator Investigates Microsoft Over 365 Subscriptions
• Negative Sentiment: Disney’s decision to replace GitHub Copilot with OpenAI’s Codex highlights intensifying competition in AI coding tools. Multiple shareholder lawsuits concerning alleged Copilot and Azure disclosures also remain an overhang.

About Microsoft

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).

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