Cullinan Associates Inc. Sells 21,056 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cullinan Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 175,128 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 21,056 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.7% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $73,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 21,378 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,011,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,708,000. Mokosak Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 224,258 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $94,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 13,131 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,535,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.0 %

MSFT stock opened at $378.80 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $405.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

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.