Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is New York State Common Retirement Fund's 2nd Largest Position

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,148,406 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 14,283 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.7% of New York State Common Retirement Fund's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.14% of Microsoft worth $4,277,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $12.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $386.48. 11,146,684 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,222,488. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $385.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

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.