Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s 2nd Largest Position

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 216,358 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 52,661 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.8% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $513.24 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $486.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $433.33. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $518.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Profile

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.