Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Cullen Capital Management LLC

Cullen Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 234,375 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,125 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $98,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $470.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $473.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $420.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $417.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.57.

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.