Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Signet Financial Management LLC

Signet Financial Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,470 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.6% of Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,863,000. Finally, Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,295,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.9 %

MSFT opened at $408.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $425.20 and a 200 day moving average of $422.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 56,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.