Howland Capital Management LLC Has $117.20 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Howland Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 344,157 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,530 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.7% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $117,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% in the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $97,000. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Loop Capital began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $369.67 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $219.35 and a 12-month high of $370.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $332.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $329.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.33%.

Microsoft 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.