Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $348.68 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 934,736 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,355 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.3% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $348,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $513.53 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.10. 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 50 day moving average of $430.87 and a 200 day moving average of $412.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,810 shares of company stock worth $10,110,874. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 20th. Evercore set a $528.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, China Renaissance decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.27.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong Azure and cloud performance helped drive a rally of roughly 48% from its June low, with the stock reaching a 10-month high and moving above a technical buy point. A recently formed “golden cross,” in which the 50-day moving average moved above the 200-day average, also supports bullish momentum. Bull v. Bear: MSFT Hits 2026 High, is a New Record Next?
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly in early discussions with Moonshot AI regarding its Kimi K3 model. A potential arrangement could add another AI service to Azure and create a new revenue stream, although negotiations are not finalized. MSFT Stock Alert: Moonshot Could Give Microsoft Another AI Revenue Stream
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s deployment of more than 25 AI agents across its supply chain illustrates early enterprise use cases for agentic AI, including demand forecasting, freight routing and inventory management. Successful internal deployments could support broader adoption of Microsoft’s AI tools. Microsoft Puts 25 AI Agents to Work on Supply Chain Costs
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is spending heavily on AI infrastructure—approximately $175 billion this year—and has reassured employees that data-center investment is intended to support long-term growth. Azure reportedly surpassed $100 billion, while contracted backlog and commercial bookings remain major valuation supports. Microsoft Reassures Employees About AI Data Center Impacts
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s gains have helped lift major indexes, but the strength is concentrated in a few mega-cap technology stocks while small caps and many sectors weaken as bond yields rise. This creates a broader market-risk backdrop despite Microsoft’s relative strength. Dow Jones Futures: Microsoft, Titans Mask Market Weakness
• Negative Sentiment: One analyst argued that Microsoft’s valuation rerating may be largely complete for now, raising the risk of profit-taking after the recent monthly rally. At the current valuation, further gains may require continued upward revisions to cloud and AI growth expectations. Microsoft: The Rerating Is Probably Over For Now

About Microsoft

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).