Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys 644,792 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 31.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,726,343 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 644,792 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,009,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2%

Microsoft stock opened at $506.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $405.77 and a 200-day moving average of $406.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

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 equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.16.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330 in the last 90 days. 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).