Alua Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 89,300 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Alua Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 89,300 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $46,253,000. Microsoft makes up 3.2% of Alua Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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 last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America cut their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $395.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $427.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $476.03. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft has a near-term product catalyst: a $99/month AI tools bundle (includes Copilot capabilities) with a May 1 launch that could drive commercial adoption and recurring ARR growth. Microsoft Is Racing to Beat Claude Cowork. A Big Catalyst for MSFT Stock Is Coming May 1.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding into healthcare AI with Copilot Health (can read medical records and provide personalized insights) and partner integrations, opening a large vertical market and cross‑sell opportunities for Azure and Copilot. Microsoft launched a new healthcare chatbot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft 365 E7 bundles Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and security tools — a premium enterprise offering that can lift average revenue per user for large customers. Analysts continue to highlight AI-driven revenue upside. Microsoft’s New E7 AI Suite And Healthcare Push Shape Long-Term Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox/product cycle news: Microsoft is advancing Project Helix (next‑gen Xbox) but prototypes won’t reach developers until 2027 — positive for long-term console moat but not an immediate revenue driver. Microsoft’s Next Xbox Moves Closer to Reality: What It Means for MSFT Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Gaming/graphics tech progress (DirectX/advanced shader delivery with NVIDIA/Intel) reduces frictions for PC gaming and helps Xbox/Windows gaming competitiveness but is a more gradual, longer-term tailwind. DirectX Gears Up For ML Era On Windows
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about huge AI data‑center capex and public pushback over electricity/costs is weighing on the stock; large lease and buildouts boost growth but increase near‑term cash burn. Who is really footing the AI energy bill? Inside the debate about data center electricity costs
• Negative Sentiment: Security scare: reports of a new vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator have spooked investors and triggered selling pressure tied to identity/security risk. New Vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator Sends Microsoft Stock Sliding
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change: Rajesh Jha, a long‑time head of experiences and devices (Office/Copilot products), announced retirement — creates short‑term execution/transition uncertainty. Microsoft’s Rajesh Jha, head of experiences and devices unit, to retire
• Negative Sentiment: Options and flows show increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), reflecting trader caution after the pullback. Option traders moderately bearish in Microsoft with shareslittle changed

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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).