Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Decreased by Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,948 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.0% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $87,000. Family CFO Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% in the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $394.94 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $303.40 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $414.03 and a 200-day moving average of $389.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft 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.