Independence Bank of Kentucky Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,431 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,862 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.2% of Independence Bank of Kentucky’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.71.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $498.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $500.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $461.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.57.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.