Signify Wealth Has $1.03 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Signify Wealth lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,308 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 201 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.5% of Signify Wealth’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Signify Wealth’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Bayesian Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $550,086,000 after acquiring an additional 5,253 shares in the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 296.7% in the 1st quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares during the period. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,538,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $420.92 and a 200-day moving average of $424.18.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. New Street Research initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.