Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,352 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.5% of Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $802,000. Strategic Advocates LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the period. Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 614 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,530,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Fortune Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three 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 a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $393.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $408.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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