Strs Ohio Sells 183,386 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Strs Ohio reduced its Microsoft stake by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 183,386 shares and leaving it with 2.96 million shares valued at about $1.43 billion. Microsoft remains its second-largest position and makes up 5.3% of the fund’s holdings.
• Microsoft beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $4.27 versus the $4.06 estimate and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, or $3.64 annualized.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on MSFT, with 39 Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings and a consensus price target of $560.88. The stock was also noted as up 5.4% and was trading near $450.24 at the time of the report.

Strs Ohio cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,961,596 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 183,386 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.3% of Strs Ohio's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Strs Ohio's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,432,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. IRON Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the period. PMG Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant's stock worth $493,860,000 after acquiring an additional 9,700 shares during the period. Finally, Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted 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 worth $6,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, May 4th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Melius Research set a $430.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $450.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $402.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $434.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Profile

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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