Metropolis Capital Ltd boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 40.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,177,196 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 338,932 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 14.8% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $435,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Arete Research lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.86.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Key Stories Impacting Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a new AI deployment business, Microsoft Frontier Company, backed by $2.5 billion and staffed with about 6,000 engineers and industry experts to help enterprises select, implement, and improve AI tools. Investors are viewing this as a way to accelerate Azure and Copilot adoption while monetizing the enterprise AI buildout. Microsoft launches its own AI deployment company with $2.5 billion commitment
- Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Microsoft as a top AI and growth stock, while others said the market is rotating from semiconductors back toward software. That is helping sentiment around MSFT as investors look for higher-quality AI beneficiaries with recurring enterprise revenue. Microsoft launches firm to help companies adopt AI with $2.5 billion
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also reported to be overhauling Copilot to make its AI assistant more useful and easier to justify for customers. That could improve adoption, but it also underscores that AI products must now prove their value. Microsoft’s Copilot Reset Shows AI Tools Must Now Prove Their Worth
- Neutral Sentiment: There was also a new undersea cable partnership with Lightstorm to expand India-Southeast Asia connectivity, plus a report that enterprise customers continue to adopt Microsoft’s AI and cloud services. These are strategically helpful, but not immediate catalysts. Microsoft partners with Singapore’s Lightstorm to build India-Southeast Asia undersea cable
- Negative Sentiment: Sentiment is still being held back by Microsoft’s weak recent stock performance, with articles noting its worst month in more than 25 years and renewed debate about whether the selloff is creating a buying opportunity. Microsoft Had Its Worst Month in More Than 25 Years. Should Investors Buy the Crash?
- Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing class-action securities litigation over alleged misrepresentations during the class period, which adds a legal overhang and may keep some investors cautious. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
- Negative Sentiment: Other reports said Microsoft may cut thousands of jobs and that investors are questioning whether its massive AI capital spending can generate enough returns. That uncertainty is weighing on the stock despite the company’s strong long-term fundamentals. Microsoft eyes another wave of layoffs that could hit 5,000 workers next week
Microsoft Stock Performance
NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $390.49 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $406.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $417.46.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.
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).
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