Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $268.66 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 637,392 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.9% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $268,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $860,913,000 after buying an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $435.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $384.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.12. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.77.

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.