Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Has $804.26 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,172,672 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 35,181 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.4% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $804,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,573 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Summerhill Capital Management lnc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Summerhill Capital Management lnc. now owns 17,141 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,345,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 341,325 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $126,348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares during the period. Jim Saulnier & Associates LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Jim Saulnier & Associates LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Cannon Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 24.0% during the first quarter. Cannon Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $390.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $406.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $417.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

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).