Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $999.32 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Retirement Systems of Alabama sold 24,336 shares of Microsoft Corporation, reducing its holding to approximately 2,662,096 shares, making Microsoft its second largest investment, valued at around $999 million.
• Insider sales included 3,000 shares sold by EVP Takeshi Numoto and 6,000 shares by insider Bradford L. Smith, collectively indicating a decrease in their ownership.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Microsoft, with a consensus target of $551.21, reflecting strong investor sentiment and expectations for growth.

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,662,096 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 24,336 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.9% of Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Microsoft were worth $999,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fosun International Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $581.00 price objective (up previously from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.67 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $513.24. 25,399,623 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,947,285. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $518.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $486.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $433.33.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.