Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s 3rd Largest Position

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 348,602 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 53,363 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.1% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $130,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,144,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $495.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $509.93 and a 200-day moving average of $450.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.