Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Key Points

• Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 19.6% in the first quarter, holding 216,358 shares valued at approximately $81.2 million.
• Microsoft's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $3.65, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue increased by 18.1% year-over-year to $76.44 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 to be paid on September 11th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.65%.

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,358 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 52,661 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.8% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 713,600 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $267,878,000 after buying an additional 11,408 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 97,136 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,464,000 after acquiring an additional 6,966 shares in the last quarter. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 578.8% in the 1st quarter. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH now owns 35,494 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $13,324,000 after buying an additional 30,265 shares during the period. Harvey Investment Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC now owns 14,870 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,582,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 9,516 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,572,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $9.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $524.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $488.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $434.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Microsoft Company 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.