Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's 2nd Largest Position

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,596,546 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.6% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,117,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 12,435 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,558,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 5,450 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,436,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 20,385 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,111,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286 shares during the period. Finally, Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,031,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $511.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $10.36 on Wednesday, hitting $426.03. 8,688,458 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,715,867. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $429.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $384.81 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

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.