Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 678,100 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $254,993,000. Microsoft accounts for 5.3% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.
Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant's stock worth $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Microsoft by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,369,562,000 after buying an additional 88,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Price Performance
NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $414.74. 13,402,281 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,784,544. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $413.85 and a 200 day moving average of $392.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $306.26 and a 1-year high of $430.82.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $452.61.
View Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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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