Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 6,625 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio sold 6,625 Microsoft shares, reducing its stake by 0.2% to 3.10 million shares valued at approximately $1.15 billion. Microsoft remains the fund’s third-largest holding and represents about 3.7% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $4.74 per share and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates; revenue increased 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a generally bullish outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and $559.16 price target.
• Insiders sold 38,572 shares worth approximately $17.8 million over the past three months, while Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to a 0.7% annual yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,099,154 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,625 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.7% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,147,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in Microsoft by 138.8% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after buying an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $506.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $405.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $406.95. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 chip plans support the rally: Reports say Microsoft could unveil its Maia 300 AI accelerator as early as September and secure capacity for more than 300,000 chips by 2027, with longer-term ambitions exceeding one million units. The effort could reduce Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia, lower AI-computing costs and potentially attract customers such as Anthropic. Microsoft plans to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see measured AI investment and further upside: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target from $647 to $660, arguing that the company is not building data-center capacity too aggressively. The firm said new infrastructure would remain useful for Azure even if AI demand moderated. Microsoft's Datacenter Spending Is Disciplined
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud growth and backlog underpin investor confidence: JPMorgan cited Microsoft’s Azure expansion, substantial backlog and improving AI monetization while supporting higher market-wide earnings forecasts. Other bullish commentary points to strong recent results, including reported Azure growth and broad Copilot adoption. Microsoft Stock Rises as JPMorgan Backs AI Payoff
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns add support: Microsoft’s large-scale dividends and share repurchases reinforce its position as a cash-generating technology leader, although investors are also evaluating how much capital is being redirected toward AI infrastructure. Microsoft Stock Runs One of the Market's Biggest Cash-Return Machines
• Neutral Sentiment: AI opportunity comes with execution risks: Analysts continue debating whether megacap AI spending will generate adequate cash flow. Separately, reports of AI models reaching real-world systems could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s autonomous-agent products and enterprise security controls.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal notices remain an overhang: Investor-rights firms are promoting a securities class action involving purchases made between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The notices do not establish liability but could add reputational and litigation risk.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. CLSA reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $559.16.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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