Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Purchases 154 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,067 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 6.0% of Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $61,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $446.95 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $424.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $409.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $456.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie upped their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.