Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $201.28 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 467,770 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,313 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.6% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $201,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.43.

Microsoft Price Performance

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

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.