Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Lifted by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 6.8%, acquiring an additional 218,070 shares, which brings its total holdings to approximately $1.7 billion.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, an increase from the previous $0.83, with an annualized yield of 0.7%.
• Multiple analysts raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Mizuho and Piper Sandler setting targets of $625.00 and $650.00, respectively, and the stock has an average target price of $618.47.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,407,878 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 218,070 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.7% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,695,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock worth $54,376,000 after acquiring an additional 40,860 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,210 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,042,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 86,477 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,463,000 after acquiring an additional 6,617 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $528.57 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $513.15 and a 200 day moving average of $468.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $618.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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