Strs Ohio Sells 247,958 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Strs Ohio reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,713,638 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 247,958 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.0% of Strs Ohio’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,004,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $384.93 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $401.47 and its 200-day moving average is $412.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Mizuho reduced their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Bank of America began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.84.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to view Microsoft as a high-quality AI and cloud name, with some arguing the stock looks cheaper after the recent decline.
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming earnings later this month could provide a catalyst if Azure growth and AI-related demand remain strong.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft remains a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, but investors are waiting for clearer proof that those investments will translate into faster profit growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s 4,800-job reduction and Xbox restructuring suggest ongoing cost pressure and restructuring challenges.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class-action alerts tied to alleged AI/Copilot disclosure issues are adding legal and reputational risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership and AI product execution are creating uncertainty around the company’s AI narrative.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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).