Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Hartford Funds Management Co LLC

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,286 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.6% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 328,599 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $138,504,000 after purchasing an additional 86,030 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 2,667,188 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,124,220,000 after buying an additional 129,449 shares during the last quarter. Royal Harbor Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Harbor Partners LLC now owns 11,873 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,004,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,487,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 47,404 shares of the software giant's stock worth $19,981,000 after acquiring an additional 6,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $3.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $452.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,864,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,486,259. 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $391.20 and a 200-day moving average of $411.86.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.77.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.