Hartford Financial Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,352 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.5% of Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $393.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $408.34 and its 200 day moving average is $419.63. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $376.91 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.