Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $100.64 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,333 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 14,025 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.9% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $100,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Rothschild Redb cut shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.34.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of MSFT opened at $478.53 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $504.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $502.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

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.