Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Metropolis Capital Ltd

Metropolis Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 838,264 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 207,409 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 13.0% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $405,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $659.00 to $556.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $641.00 target price (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $576.66.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI (backed by Microsoft) launched ChatGPT Images 2.0 — improvements to OpenAI’s image capabilities strengthen the product ecosystem that Microsoft leverages via its OpenAI partnership and Azure hosting, supporting longer-term AI revenue opportunities. OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Images 2.0 – Here’s What You Need to KnowArticle
• Positive Sentiment: Large enterprise deals deepen Azure and Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption — a five-year collaboration with Stellantis and industrial showcases at Hannover Messe (and Accenture partnerships) signal expanding, sticky enterprise AI workflows that drive cloud consumption and services revenue. Microsoft Deepens Industrial AI Role With Stellantis And Hannover Messe DealsArticle
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture’s agentic factory system debuts with Microsoft integrations — another indicator of enterprise traction for Azure-based AI platforms and professional services monetization. Accenture’s New Agentic Factory System Debuts With MicrosoftArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor chatter and analysts expect a rebound into earnings: social-media buzz and many buy ratings highlight Azure growth and AI backlog optimism ahead of Microsoft’s April 29 report — but the stock has drawn intense debate about valuation and execution. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Opinions on Rebound Ahead of EarningsArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox Game Pass price cut — the new Xbox leadership is trimming subscription prices to boost engagement; could lift user growth and retention but may compress near-term gaming revenue/margins. Microsoft cuts Game Pass subscription prices after new Xbox CEO promises to ‘recommit’ to gamersArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup trimmed its MSFT price target from $635 to $600 but kept a buy rating — a reminder that analyst targets are being adjusted while consensus remains constructive (median targets still well above current levels). Finviz — Citigroup price target noteArticle
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. tribunal ruled Microsoft must face a £2.1B (~$2.8B) mass lawsuit alleging overcharging for Windows Server licenses on rival clouds — a sizeable litigation risk that could lead to material settlements and heightened regulatory/legal scrutiny. Microsoft must face $2.8 billion UK lawsuit over cloud computing licencesArticle
• Negative Sentiment: Analysis piece flags scrutiny of Microsoft’s AI investments and capital intensity — investors may worry about the pace, returns and governance of large AI capex and partnerships, which can pressure near-term margins and share performance. Microsoft AI Investments Face ScrutinyArticle

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $392.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Microsoft Company 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).