VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys Shares of 1,640,300 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,640,300 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $815,902,000. Microsoft comprises about 5.6% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 29.9% during the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $633.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $510.18 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $514.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $497.34. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.