Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 26.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,318 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 5,711 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.8% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.3% during the third quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 37,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,200,000 after buying an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 367,326 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $190,256,000 after acquiring an additional 14,783 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 108,535 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $56,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,476 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,728,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 4.4% during the third quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 16,277 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,431,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major analyst support remains intact — Jefferies reiterated a Buy on MSFT with a $675 target, and other firms (Wedbush, Scotiabank) continue positive stances, reinforcing a bullish long-term AI/cloud story. Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI Strategy Reinforces Its Position as a Long-Term Winner, Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: New commercial partnerships extend Copilot/Azure monetization paths — PayPal will power checkout in Copilot and Fiserv has an AI partnership to embed Microsoft tech, both help drive direct revenue/usage for Copilot and Azure. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum and enterprise demand remain strong — reporting around robust Azure demand, agentic AI tools for retail, and new robotics/automation partnerships that expand Azure’s TAM. These support revenue visibility and margin recovery as AI deployments scale. Microsoft Unleashes Agentic AI To Automate Every Corner Of Retail
• Neutral Sentiment: EU digital-rule update reportedly spares big tech from the strictest measures — less regulatory tightening would be neutral-to-positive for MSFT but it’s a policy development to monitor. Exclusive: Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target consensus points to sizable upside (~30% mean) and multiple firms flag MSFT as a top AI play — bullish medium-term context but not an immediate catalyst. Wall Street Analysts Predict a 30.32% Upside in Microsoft (MSFT)
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings and corporate cadence — Microsoft announced its quarterly earnings date; previews suggest continued double‑digit growth expectations, making the report a potential near-term catalyst. Microsoft announces quarterly-earnings release date
• Negative Sentiment: Layoff rumors and cost worries have circulated (reports of thousands of cuts); Microsoft publicly pushed back calling some figures “100 percent made up,” but the rumor flow can pressure sentiment and drive short-term selling. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition to a proposed data center in Michigan and broader community pushback could create PR/headwind risks and slow site builds — timing/permits matter for capacity expansion plans. Microsoft revealed as company behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan township
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure around OpenAI (lawsuit allowed to proceed to trial) is a reputational/legal risk given Microsoft’s close ties and investments in OpenAI. Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI Of Betraying Its Nonprofit Mission Can Go To Trial, Judge Rules

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $478.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $488.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $503.66.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.11.

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).