Harvard has sold its holdings in Honeywell, Inc., which played a controversial role in developing weapons used by American troops in Indochina. The sale was apparently for financial reasons.

"Looking at the profit we made, I'd say we sold because it was a good profit," Henry J. Ameral, office manager in the treasurer's office, said yesterday.

Ameral would not specify the profit, and George F. Bennett '33, the university's treasurer, could not be reached for elaboration.

Harvard sold its holdings, listed in the last Financial Report as 16,062 shares worth $2 1/2 million, last October, Ameral said.

Antiwar activists, particularly the Clergy and Laity Concerned (CALC), have maintained that Honeywell produces several types of bombs and sensor devices used against the people of Indochina. The company has denied the charge.

Last April Harvard voted its shares against an unsuccessful CALC shareholder resolution calling for public disclosure of details of the company's defense contracts.

Honeywell has denied stockholders access to this information. In a 1971 case, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that a petitioner for the information had not demonstrated "a proper purpose germane to his interest as a stockholder."

CALC is sponsoring another shareholder resolution this spring, calling for an amendment of Honeywell's certificate of incorporation to forbid the development or production of antipersonnel weapons.

The resolution will come up for consideration at Honeywell's annual stockholder meeting on April 24.