Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s Largest Position

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,175,351 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 164,980 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 6.1% of Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $972,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rebalance LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $422.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $360.36 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $421.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.