Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Raised by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 23rd, 2023

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,654 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.0% of Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 4,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,166 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Affiance Financial LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 10,362 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,988,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,898 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Forbes Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the first quarter. Forbes Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,845 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $337.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $335.00 to $415.00 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.03.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Microsoft

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $317.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $331.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $315.11. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $213.43 and a 1-year high of $366.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

About Microsoft

(Free Report)

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.