Signet Financial Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Signet Financial Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,424 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.7% of Signet Financial Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Total Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Total Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Retireful LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $574,000. Verum Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 8,688 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,322,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. Legacy Solutions LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Solutions LLC now owns 2,146 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, McCarthy & Cox increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. McCarthy & Cox now owns 1,079 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Arete lifted their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $618.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $523.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $513.38 and its 200-day moving average is $469.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 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 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

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.