Cullinan Associates Inc. Buys 887 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5%, now holding 176,015 shares valued at approximately $66 million.
• Microsoft reported $3.46 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.22, with a net margin of 35.79% and year-over-year revenue growth of 13.3%.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, set to be paid on September 11th, representing an annualized yield of 0.65%.

Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 176,015 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.7% of Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $9.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $524.11. 28,948,527 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,441,598. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $488.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $434.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.