Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $37.65 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,325 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.3% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

MSFT traded up $3.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $467.68. 20,083,146 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,471,689. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $469.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50 day moving average is $413.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $415.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

About Microsoft

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.