Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is New York State Common Retirement Fund’s 2nd Largest Position

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,148,406 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 14,283 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.7% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,277,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $359.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $387.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $412.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $497.63.

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.