State of Michigan Retirement System Has $989.20 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,346,867 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 100,400 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.1% of State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Microsoft were worth $989,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. James Reed Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,337,000. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 3,724 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Scratch Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $742,000. WMG Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,723 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,677,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 784,164 shares of the software giant's stock worth $330,525,000 after acquiring an additional 14,570 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $438.73. The stock had a trading volume of 15,313,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,422,206. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company's fifty day moving average is $389.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.74. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Company 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.