Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,707,610 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 238,747 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.5% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,898,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sicart Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the third quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 7,807 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,936,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $406.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $295.25 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $388.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.87% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.