Aspiriant LLC Has $20.63 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aspiriant LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,043 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 312 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.9% of Aspiriant LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 160.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $460.77 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $426.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $461.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Macquarie increased their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

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.