Dara Capital US Inc. Takes Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Dara Capital US Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 15,029 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.4% of Dara Capital US Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during 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 valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. HSBC upped their price target on Microsoft from $588.00 to $593.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft to $502.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.67.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and AI/cloud momentum — MSFT beat EPS and revenue expectations, Azure/cloud growth accelerated ~40% and management cited an AI revenue run‑rate near $37B, supporting the long‑term growth story. Microsoft Q3 press release and transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts largely remain bullish — multiple firms reaffirmed Buy/Outperform ratings and some raised targets (Wells Fargo, Piper Sandler and others), reflecting confidence in Azure and AI monetization. Microsoft Wins Buy Rating on Strong AI-Driven Cloud Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Product traction: Copilot & LinkedIn monetization — management said paid Copilot users and LinkedIn AI hiring products are scaling, which supports higher recurring AI revenue potential. Microsoft says it has over 20m paid Copilot users
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is split — some firms trimmed targets on valuation/spending concerns while others lifted targets on stronger AI monetization; expect continued divergent analyst commentary and price‑target revisions. Wall Street Splits on Microsoft After Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity shows speculative bullish interest — unusually large call volume suggests some traders are betting on a rebound even as the stock trades lower (this can amplify intraday moves).
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy capex & margin/cash‑flow concerns — MSFT raised 2026 capex guidance toward ~\$190B and noted a meaningful jump in infrastructure spending; investors sold into the beat, fearing pressure on free cash flow and near‑term returns. Microsoft Falls 5% Despite Q3 Beat: Why $190 Billion in AI Spending Has Investors Worried
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term target trims and one‑time charges — several firms trimmed targets and Microsoft disclosed charges (e.g., voluntary retirement program) and other near‑term costs, adding to headline risk. Cantor Fitzgerald Cuts Microsoft Price Target

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $407.78 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $395.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.37. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director 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 currently owned by corporate 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).