Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Has $9.23 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,445 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.6% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 37.9% during the third quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,438 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,631,000 after buying an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Capital Management Associates Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 72.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 8,005 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,445,000 after acquiring an additional 3,360 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp now owns 51,069 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,975,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 95,231 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $40,978,000 after acquiring an additional 22,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Ridge Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.5% in the third quarter. North Ridge Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,907 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $436.60 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $427.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.