Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is State of Wyoming’s 8th Largest Position

State of Wyoming lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,204 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,455 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.9% of State of Wyoming’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $18,733,827,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $478.53 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $504.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $502.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.