Johnson Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,035 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Johnson Financial Group increased its Microsoft stake by 2.1%, buying 2,035 additional shares to hold 99,549 shares valued at approximately $36.85 million. Microsoft represents about 1.3% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 71.13%, with major investors including Vanguard, State Street, Geode Capital and Morgan Stanley adding to their positions.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and earnings exceeding estimates, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus. However, recent insider selling and substantial AI infrastructure spending could create near-term risks.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 99,549 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.3% of Johnson Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Johnson Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI growth are the main catalysts. Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for fiscal 2026, while fourth-quarter cloud revenue increased 43%. Microsoft also exceeded quarterly revenue and earnings expectations, supporting optimism that AI demand is translating into recurring cloud and enterprise revenue. Microsoft Azure Fiscal 2026 Sales Exceed $100B
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding its AI infrastructure footprint in India. The company opened its largest Indian data-center hub in Hyderabad and signed early customers including Adani Group and HDFC Bank. Microsoft has committed approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian operations, positioning Azure for growth in a large and rapidly developing market. Microsoft Opens Its Largest India Data Center Hub
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive. Analysts have raised price targets, including Tigress Financial’s $690 target, citing durable AI and cloud growth. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet, recurring software revenue and approximately $0.91 quarterly dividend also provide support for the long-term investment case. Tigress Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is a significant growth engine but also a concentration risk. Reports estimate that OpenAI may account for roughly 70% of Microsoft’s AI revenue. The relationship boosts near-term demand, but reliance on one partner could increase volatility if economics, technology preferences or customer concentration change. OpenAI May Account for 70 Percent of Microsoft AI Revenue
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and legal notices may temper sentiment. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares worth about $4.9 million, following EVP Takeshi Numoto’s sale of approximately $2.4 million. Multiple law firms are also promoting a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These items do not establish wrongdoing, but they can add near-term headline pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is increasing execution and margin risks. Large data-center commitments and infrastructure spending are necessary to support demand, but could pressure free cash flow and margins if capacity is built ahead of revenue or component shortages delay deployments. Microsoft’s valuation also leaves less room for disappointment after its sharp rally.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $558.87.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $499.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $403.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $406.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

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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