Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Hartline Investment Corp’s 4th Largest Position

Hartline Investment Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,590 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.2% of Hartline Investment Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $41,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.53.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $429.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $429.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.57.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.