Cullen Investment Group LTD. Buys 1,334 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 88,289 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.5% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Cullen Investment Group LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,931,278.28. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.9 %

Microsoft stock traded down $7.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $408.25. The company had a trading volume of 27,440,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,130,024. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $425.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.69. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.