Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $285.35 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 638,443 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.6% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $285,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $846,072,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.68.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $419.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.54. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $324.39 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.74%.

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.