Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Reduces Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,644 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,227 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.3% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fosun International Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,161 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,439,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $506.73. 6,242,788 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,145,063. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50-day moving average price is $509.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $449.32.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

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.