Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,890,656 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 263,921 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.4% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.05% of Microsoft worth $1,636,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $3.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $421.53. 15,211,014 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,978,326. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.50, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $436.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company 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 company earned $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $494.72.

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.