Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Blackhawk Capital Partners increased its Microsoft stake by 7.9% in the second quarter, purchasing 1,669 additional shares. Its 22,914 shares were valued at approximately $8.55 million and represented 2.8% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 71.13%, while analysts maintain a bullish outlook: Microsoft has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $564.27.
• Microsoft’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with $4.74 EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, up 17.7% year over year. However, its planned data-center expansion could increase capital-spending, execution and return-on-investment risks.

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,914 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.8% of Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Phillip Securities cut Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 27th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $564.27.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $495.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $455.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.16. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reportedly plans to more than triple global data-center capacity to approximately 38 gigawatts by 2032. The expansion is intended to address server shortages that have forced Microsoft to turn away some AI and cloud customers, potentially allowing the company to capture more Azure demand and prevent business from shifting to rivals. Microsoft plans 38 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2032
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Microsoft’s AI and cloud growth. Recent commentary cites Azure revenue growth of 43%, expectations for further acceleration, and approximately 30 million paid Copilot seats—supporting the view that AI products are becoming meaningful enterprise businesses. Microsoft: Big Tech Winner Still On Sale
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street price targets are moving higher, with a Yahoo Finance analyst survey cited at $572.92. Microsoft is also expanding Azure’s commercial ecosystem through partnerships such as Talkdesk’s Azure Marketplace integration, which could increase cloud consumption and simplify enterprise adoption. Microsoft Price Targets Are Rising
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reorganizing its reporting structure and plans to disclose quarterly Azure revenue beginning in fiscal 2027. Greater transparency may help investors assess cloud performance, but the reporting change itself does not alter fundamentals. Microsoft’s Azure Reporting Shift Adds Clarity
• Neutral Sentiment: Longtime communications chief Frank Shaw is leaving after nearly three decades, a senior leadership transition that may attract attention but is not currently tied to a change in strategy. Frank Shaw leaving Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: The data-center buildout will require very large capital expenditures, raising concerns about power availability, construction costs, free cash flow and returns on investment. The company’s recent capacity constraints also highlight execution risk. Microsoft’s AI Crunch Forced It to Turn Away Business
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also weighing competition from Alphabet and other cloud providers, alongside security and productivity risks from bring-your-own-device users and concerns that Microsoft’s valuation already reflects substantial AI growth.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 101,335 shares of company stock worth $50,655,795 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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