Aspire Capital Advisors LLC Buys 1,215 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,685 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 7.0% of Aspire Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,749,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,369,562,000 after purchasing an additional 88,583 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays lifted 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. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $410.54 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $306.26 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $413.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $392.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

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.