Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,871 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,894 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.9% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 111.7% in the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% in the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.0% in the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth $97,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. HSBC initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $347.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $335.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.34.
Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %
Shares of MSFT opened at $332.42 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $213.43 and a 12-month high of $366.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $324.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.83.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.07%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’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 value of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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