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

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,131,519 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,984 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.0% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,104,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $479.28 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $488.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $503.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Office 365 subscription growth is accelerating (commercial + consumer uptake, higher-tier migration and AI features boosting revenue per user), which supports recurring revenue and margin resilience. MSFT’s Office 365 Subscription Growth Picks Up
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched agentic AI solutions for retailers (automation across merchandising, store ops and fulfillment) — expands monetization avenues for Azure/Copilot in commerce. Microsoft Introduces Agentic AI Solutions for Retailers
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal will power Copilot Checkout flows, a partnership that helps drive payments volume inside Microsoft’s Copilot ecosystem and could lift monetization of consumer workflows. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Prominent commentators and analysts remain constructive — Jim Cramer voiced continued confidence in Microsoft, and firms (Wedbush/Jefferies/Scotiabank coverage) reiterate upside tied to Azure/AI momentum. These endorsements support investor sentiment. Jim Cramer Says “Going Forward, I Still Feel Pretty Good About Microsoft”
• Neutral Sentiment: EU digital rule overhaul reportedly won’t impose heavy-handed restrictions on big tech — reduces a regulatory overhang but is broadly industry-wide news. Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul
• Negative Sentiment: Reports say AI‑capable PC sales came in below expectations, denting the near‑term hardware/AI upgrade narrative that had been a tailwind for Microsoft’s Windows/partner ecosystem. “AI Confuses Them More Than it Helps…”: Microsoft Stock Slips as AI PC Sales Less Than Expected
• Negative Sentiment: Rumors of large job cuts circulated (company communications called the figures inaccurate), creating headline risk around rising AI costs and cost‑base adjustments. Short-term volatility can follow such reports even when later denied. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition emerged after Microsoft was identified as the developer behind a contentious Michigan data‑center proposal — potential permitting delays and PR drag. Microsoft behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $630.76.

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).