New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 347,447 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,900 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.7% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Microsoft were worth $130,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $504.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $506.58 and a 200 day moving average of $445.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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.

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