Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,019 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 48,946 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 10.0% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Microsoft were worth $113,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $430.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 3.2 %

Microsoft stock traded up $12.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $386.48. 11,146,684 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,222,488. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $385.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.70. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

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.