Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Lessened by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 638,000 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 11,100 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.0% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $274,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $436.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $427.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.46.

About Microsoft

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.