Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Howland Capital Management LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Howland Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 326,340 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,558 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 6.5% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $122,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sicart Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% in the third quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 7,807 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,936,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $414.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $386.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.05.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.