Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,955 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 819 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.6% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Microsoft by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,612,000 after acquiring an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.7% during the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 21,363 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,988,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Violich Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 183,111 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $77,038,000 after purchasing an additional 5,380 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 44.9% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $422.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

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.