Cullinan Associates Inc. Has $81.87 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cullinan Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,184 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,124 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.5% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,890,530,000 after buying an additional 49,288 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $436.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $427.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.42. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft 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.