State of Michigan Retirement System Has $1.10 Billion Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,458,467 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 29,260 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.6% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,098,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $420.69 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $418.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $311.21 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.94.

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.