Aspen Investment Management Inc Has $8.21 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Aspen Investment Management Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,511 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,291 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.5% of Aspen Investment Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Aspen Investment Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 29.9% in the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $491.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $506.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $501.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, August 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Melius Research upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.34.

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.