Signet Financial Management LLC Buys 1,133 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Signet Financial Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,387 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.7% of Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

MSFT stock opened at $460.77 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $461.02. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $427.29 and its 200-day moving average is $411.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

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.