State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $1.41 Billion Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,155,058 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 11,313 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.8% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,414,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $351,001,000 after acquiring an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Redburn Partners reduced their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.06.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $377.44 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $332.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $219.35 and a 1 year high of $378.87.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Microsoft 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.