Peoples Bank KS Sells 203 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Peoples Bank KS lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,039 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 6.6% of Peoples Bank KS’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th 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 acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,000,376,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $401.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $427.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.79. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,751 shares of company stock worth $53,628,156 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie boosted their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

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.