Asio Capital LLC Acquires 751 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Asio Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,791 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.3% of Asio Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.05 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $477.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $428.54. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $514.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.