Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Reduced by Harrington Investments INC

Harrington Investments INC decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,065 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.0% of Harrington Investments INC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Harrington Investments INC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $498.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $461.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $423.57. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $500.76. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.