Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lifted by New York State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System slightly increased its Microsoft stake by 0.3% in the first quarter, adding 18,318 shares and bringing its total holding to 6,074,595 shares worth about $2.25 billion.
• Microsoft remains a favorite among institutions and analysts: hedge funds and other investors own 71.13% of the company, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $557.96.
• The company continues to show strong fundamentals, recently beating earnings expectations with $4.27 EPS on $82.89 billion in revenue and announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable on September 10.

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,074,595 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 18,318 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.6% of New York State Teachers Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Microsoft worth $2,248,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Citizens Jmp began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $557.96.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing sales teams to sell its AI offerings as a more secure and lower-cost alternative to OpenAI and Anthropic, highlighting its ability to monetize enterprise demand and defend its AI ecosystem. Microsoft Coaches Sales Staff to Challenge OpenAI and Anthropic on Costs and Security
• Positive Sentiment: 3M announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft tied to Azure data centers and enterprise transformation, which adds another validation point for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure strategy. 3M and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is overhauling its cybersecurity business to capture more spending from AI-driven threats, which could open a new growth lane as customers increase security budgets. Microsoft (MSFT) Overhauls Cybersecurity Business to Cash In on AI Threats
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a $2.5 billion initiative to help large customers deploy AI systems around their own data and workflows, reinforcing its enterprise AI moat. How Microsoft (MSFT) Is Deepening Its Enterprise AI Moat With a $2.5 Billion Customer Deployment Initiative

Microsoft Trading Up 2.8%

MSFT stock opened at $395.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business's 50 day moving average is $401.10 and its 200-day moving average is $412.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.