Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors increased its Microsoft stake by 2.9% in the second quarter, acquiring 63,992 shares for a total of 2.24 million shares valued at approximately $834.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish, with 42 analysts rating Microsoft a Buy and five assigning a Hold; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $564.27 price target.
• Microsoft’s AI and cloud outlook remains strong, supported by 43% Azure growth and planned data-center expansion, but the buildout brings significant capital-spending, power-availability and execution risks.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,236,664 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 63,992 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.2% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $834,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 31st. CLSA reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 27th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $564.27.

Microsoft News Summary

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.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $495.63 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $455.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

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 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 business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

About Microsoft

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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