Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Reduced by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 467,770 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,313 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 6.6% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $201,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 330,573 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $142,246,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 897,433 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $386,165,000 after acquiring an additional 56,467 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,392 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,332,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. Chris Bulman Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 5.5% in the third quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 2,607 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plan Group Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 52.7% during the third quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $505.43.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $454.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $425.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.