Alua Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Alua Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 89,300 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $46,253,000. Microsoft comprises about 3.2% of Alua Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after buying an additional 13,691,572 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

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

Microsoft Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $395.55 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $427.46 and its 200-day moving average is $476.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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).