Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's Largest Position

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors increased its Microsoft stake by 1.6% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 2.17 million shares worth about $804 million. Microsoft is now the firm’s largest position and accounts for 4.4% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft continues to draw strong institutional interest overall, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 71.13% of the stock. Several funds recently added to or initiated positions, underscoring ongoing investor demand.
• The company remains in focus for both positive AI momentum and near-term concerns: it launched a new AI deployment business backed by $2.5 billion, but recent reports also point to weak stock performance, possible layoffs, and legal overhang.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,172,672 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 35,181 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.4% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $804,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,616,000. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $828,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2,332.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,262,509,000 after buying an additional 6,468,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 272,424 shares of the software giant's stock worth $131,750,000 after acquiring an additional 49,371 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a new AI deployment business, Microsoft Frontier Company, backed by $2.5 billion and staffed with about 6,000 engineers and industry experts to help enterprises select, implement, and improve AI tools. Investors are viewing this as a way to accelerate Azure and Copilot adoption while monetizing the enterprise AI buildout. Microsoft launches its own AI deployment company with $2.5 billion commitment
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Microsoft as a top AI and growth stock, while others said the market is rotating from semiconductors back toward software. That is helping sentiment around MSFT as investors look for higher-quality AI beneficiaries with recurring enterprise revenue. Microsoft launches firm to help companies adopt AI with $2.5 billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also reported to be overhauling Copilot to make its AI assistant more useful and easier to justify for customers. That could improve adoption, but it also underscores that AI products must now prove their value. Microsoft’s Copilot Reset Shows AI Tools Must Now Prove Their Worth
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a new undersea cable partnership with Lightstorm to expand India-Southeast Asia connectivity, plus a report that enterprise customers continue to adopt Microsoft’s AI and cloud services. These are strategically helpful, but not immediate catalysts. Microsoft partners with Singapore's Lightstorm to build India-Southeast Asia undersea cable
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment is still being held back by Microsoft’s weak recent stock performance, with articles noting its worst month in more than 25 years and renewed debate about whether the selloff is creating a buying opportunity. Microsoft Had Its Worst Month in More Than 25 Years. Should Investors Buy the Crash?
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing class-action securities litigation over alleged misrepresentations during the class period, which adds a legal overhang and may keep some investors cautious. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Other reports said Microsoft may cut thousands of jobs and that investors are questioning whether its massive AI capital spending can generate enough returns. That uncertainty is weighing on the stock despite the company’s strong long-term fundamentals. Microsoft eyes another wave of layoffs that could hit 5,000 workers next week

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $390.49 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business's fifty day moving average price is $406.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $417.46.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.86.

Microsoft Company 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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