Independence Bank of Kentucky Has $8.59 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,845 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,374 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.0% of Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,438 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Navalign LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 26.8% in the third quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 132,839 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,944,000 after buying an additional 11,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wade Financial Advisory Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wade Financial Advisory Inc now owns 3,595 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $400.96 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $275.37 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $414.57 and a 200 day moving average of $386.37. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.12%.

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.