Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ: MSFT – Free report) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its last disclosure to the SEC. The company held 768,400 shares of the software giant after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.6% of Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System holdings, making the stock its second-largest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $221,530,000 when it last filed with the SEC.
A number of other large investors have also recently increased or reduced their stakes in MSFT. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 19.9% ​​during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant worth $4,422,000 after acquiring 2,383 additional shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Microsoft shares by 20.8% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant valued at $351,001,000 after buying a further 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft shares by 1.2% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant valued at $3,919,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft shares 16.2% in the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant valued at $795,000 after buying 359 additional shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft shares by 8.2% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant valued at $1,921,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the shares are currently held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft stock up 1.6%
Shares of Microsoft share opened at $342.66 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $213.43 and a 52-week high of $351.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $328.77 and a 200-day moving average of $285.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 1.91 and a leverage ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.92.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT – Get a free report) last released its quarterly results on Tuesday, April 25. The software giant reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.45 for the quarter, beating analyst consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.23. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. The company posted revenue of $52.86 billion in the quarter, versus a consensus estimate of $51.01 billion. In the same quarter of the previous year, the company had earned earnings per share of $2.22. The company’s quarterly revenue increased 7.1% year over year. As a group, research analysts expect Microsoft Co. to post EPS of 9.64 for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft announces dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14. Investors of record on Thursday, August 17 will receive a dividend of $0.68. The ex-date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16. This represents a dividend of $2.72 on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.47%.
Insider buying and selling
In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the company in a transaction that took place on Monday, May 1. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total transaction of $9,182,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares of the company, valued at $35,952,107.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, accessible via the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, Director List Teri sold 1,250 shares of the company in a transaction that took place on Friday, June 2. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 874 shares of the company, valued at $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, accessible via the SEC website. Also, VPE Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the company in a transaction that took place on Monday, May 1. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total transaction of $9,182,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,456 shares of the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,331 shares of the company worth $15,867,278 in the past 90 days. 0.03% of the shares are held by insiders.
A Wall Street analyst gives his opinion
MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised its target price on Microsoft shares from $320.00 to $340.00 in a Wednesday, April 26 research report. Royal Bank of Canada raised its target price on Microsoft shares from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a Wednesday, April 26 research report. Evercore ISI raised its price target on Microsoft shares from $337.00 to $400.00 in a Friday, June 2 research report. BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Microsoft shares from $347.00 to $385.00 in a Friday, June 9 research report. Finally, Piper Sandler raised her price target on Microsoft stock from $348.00 to $400.00 in a Wednesday, May 31 research report. One equity research analyst gave the stock a sell rating, four gave the stock a hold rating and thirty-one gave the stock a buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $337.62.
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Process, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and business divisions.
Further reading
Want to see which other hedge funds hold MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com for the latest 13F filings and insider trading for Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ: MSFT – Free report).
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