Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Community Trust & Investment Co.

Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,761 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,577 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.1% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $99,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $408.25 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $425.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.04. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

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.