Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 32,597 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $16,884,000. Microsoft accounts for 0.4% of Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft secured a deal to lock in a 20% share of OpenAI’s revenue through 2032 — a material, long-duration cash-flow stream that reinforces MSFT’s strategic AI partnership and upside if OpenAI monetizes broadly. Microsoft Locks In 20% Of OpenAI’s Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 MSFT shares, signaling management confidence and giving investors a modest behavioral vote of confidence. Insider Purchase: Director at $MSFT Buys 5,000 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reaffirmed its renewable-energy commitments—continuing to match its electricity needs with clean power as it scales data-center capacity, which reduces regulatory/ESG risk for long-term investors. Microsoft to keep buying renewable energy to match electricity needs
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street interest: notes calling Microsoft “under-owned” and continued buy/overweight ratings (and a median price target well above current levels) provide conviction for inflows from institutional investors. Morgan Stanley: Microsoft is under-owned
• Neutral Sentiment: Global growth push: Microsoft says it’s on pace to invest ~$50B in AI across the “Global South” through 2030 — a major long-term market expansion that could drive growth but also requires heavy up-front capex and multi-year execution. Microsoft $50B Global South AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships/marketplace traction: CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is now on Microsoft Marketplace, easing procurement for customers and reinforcing MSFT’s enterprise security ecosystem (incremental revenue/ stickiness but limited immediate top-line impact). Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: AI risks and bugs: reports of a Copilot/Office bug and new “AI recommendation poisoning” threats have raised short-term security and quality concerns around Microsoft’s AI products, which can pressure enterprise adoption sentiment. New AI-Related Bug Does Not Dampen Microsoft Stock AI Recommendation Poisoning
• Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation and spending concerns: some funds are trimming MSFT amid worries that aggressive AI infrastructure and capex could weigh near-term margins — paired with downgrades and headlines about investor selling that create volatility. Investors Dump Microsoft Shares Melius Research Downgrades Microsoft

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

MSFT opened at $399.60 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $455.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $489.92. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).