Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Wallington Asset Management LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Wallington Asset Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 97,023 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,398 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.8% of Wallington Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Wallington Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $41,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,996 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 128.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,160,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,412,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $437.03. 21,883,230 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,589,182. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $426.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.26.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $508.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was 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 have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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.