Wallington Asset Management LLC Sells 4,027 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Wallington Asset Management cut its Microsoft stake by 4.7% in the first quarter, selling 4,027 shares and leaving it with 81,433 shares valued at about $30.1 million.
• Microsoft reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 versus $4.06 expected and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable Sept. 10, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

Wallington Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,433 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,027 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.0% of Wallington Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Wallington Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $388.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $404.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $416.21. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. HSBC lowered their price target on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Forty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.98.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is getting credit for shifting more AI workloads to its own in-house models, which could lower costs and improve margins in products like Excel and Outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish, arguing Microsoft’s Azure growth and AI infrastructure spending support the long-term thesis and could leave the shares undervalued after recent weakness. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: DA Davidson reiterated a Buy rating and a $550 price target, signaling Wall Street still sees meaningful upside despite near-term turbulence. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Microsoft’s AI business remains constructive, with reports highlighting a large-scale AI revenue base and continued investor interest in the stock as an AI leader. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft announced about 4,800 layoffs, including roughly 3,200 roles tied to Xbox, as part of a broader reset of the gaming business and a cost-cutting restructuring. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say the Xbox division is underperforming, with weak margins and subscription results raising concerns that management is having to shrink a core consumer business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft also faces fresh securities-fraud class-action pressure tied to Copilot and Azure disclosures, adding legal overhang and headline risk for investors. Article Title

Microsoft 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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