South Dakota Investment Council Sells 11,442 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 514,227 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 11,442 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.3% of South Dakota Investment Council’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $216,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $3,314,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $388.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $411.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.49. The company has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.43.

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.