Cullinan Associates Inc. Cuts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Cullinan Associates reduced its Microsoft stake by 12% in the first quarter, selling 21,338 shares and retaining 156,407 shares valued at approximately $57.9 million. Microsoft remains the firm’s third-largest holding and represents about 4.7% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 1.0% annualized yield.
• Investor focus is shifting to the upcoming earnings report, particularly Azure growth and fiscal 2027 capital-expenditure guidance. Microsoft’s AI and Databricks partnerships support its growth outlook, while heavy AI spending, insider selling, and securities-fraud claims add potential risks.

Cullinan Associates Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,407 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 21,338 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.7% of Cullinan Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $57,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined 25 tech companies in urging U.S. policymakers not to impose broad restrictions on open-weight and open-source AI models, a stance that supports its broader AI ecosystem strategy and could help preserve flexibility for future product development. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also backed a coalition letter with Nvidia, Meta, and other firms arguing that open-weight AI is important for U.S. leadership, reinforcing investor confidence that the company remains a major AI platform player rather than being boxed into one model provider. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded Databricks partnership extends a key cloud/data-AI relationship through the 2030s, which should help Azure adoption and strengthen long-term enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews ahead of Microsoft’s July 29 earnings report say the big investor focus will be FY2027 CapEx guidance and Azure growth, with analysts expecting strong results but worrying that AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and margins. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued class-action alerts and deadline reminders tied to Microsoft securities-fraud claims, including allegations related to Copilot disclosures, which adds headline risk and may keep some investors cautious into earnings. GlobeNewswire article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness tied to AI spending fears also weighed on Microsoft, as investors sold mega-cap names after seeing massive capital outlays across the sector and questioning near-term returns on AI investment. Fox Business article

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $381.70 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $398.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $407.62. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $646.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded Microsoft from a "market outperform" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Argus decreased their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $555.40.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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