Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 375,176 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,381,830 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 375,176 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.9% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,425,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.84 on Friday, hitting $477.40. 37,241,095 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,567,140. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $436.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $420.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $483.25.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.