Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 23,030 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its Microsoft stake by 11.9% in the first quarter, adding 23,030 shares to reach 216,899 shares valued at about $80.3 million.
• Microsoft’s stock remains heavily followed by Wall Street, with 41 Buy ratings and 6 Hold ratings, and a consensus Moderate Buy target price of $560.86.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $4.27 EPS on $82.89 billion in revenue, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share payable on September 10.

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,899 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 23,030 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.7% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $80,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pollock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Arete Research upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.86.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2%

MSFT stock opened at $373.02 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $408.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.37. The company has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlighted continued strength in Microsoft’s Azure cloud and AI businesses, with bullish commentary saying demand remains robust and that the recent selloff may be creating a more attractive entry point. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors cited Microsoft’s security business as a potential growth driver, while recent partnership news and product integrations suggest the company is still expanding its enterprise ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some Wall Street coverage remained constructive, with firms such as Deutsche Bank and Erste Group lifting their outlooks, reinforcing the view that Microsoft’s long-term earnings power remains intact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also announced product and ecosystem updates, including a new Marketplace listing and broader AI/security-related integrations, which are supportive but not likely to move the stock on their own. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several opinion pieces argued the stock may be oversold and could rebound, but these were largely valuation-driven commentary rather than new fundamental catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing renewed scrutiny over AI spending, with multiple stories noting the stock’s sharp June decline as investors worry that massive AI capex is not translating into profits quickly enough. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms and reports flagged securities-fraud class actions tied to alleged misstatements about Copilot and Azure, adding legal uncertainty and potential headline risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Additional pressure came from reports of another round of job cuts and from antitrust attention in Europe, both of which can weigh on sentiment even if they help costs over time. Article Title

Microsoft Profile

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).

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