Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Cut by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,221,796 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 89,388 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.6% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $514,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $5,587,119,000. Finally, TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $4,000,376,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $416.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $435.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $422.70. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.