OneAscent Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,709 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,000. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of OneAscent Family Office LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

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Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $35,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 37.4% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $60,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 34.2% during the second quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $101,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 strengthens Microsoft’s AI strategy. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 custom AI processor, which it says can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems. The company plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning in 2027, potentially lowering inference costs, improving Azure margins and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD. Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Maia 300 Custom AI Chip For Widespread Deployment
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains exceptionally strong. Microsoft reportedly signed more than $130 billion in data-center leases during the quarter, signaling aggressive capacity expansion to meet demand for Azure and AI services. Management has also indicated that demand continues to exceed available capacity, while its commercial backlog has reached a record level. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is supportive ahead of earnings. Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects greater differentiation in software results. Microsoft is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter 2027 results on October 28, with consensus estimates of approximately $4.72 in earnings per share and $90.4 billion in revenue. Microsoft price target raised to $600 from $512 at Barclays
• Positive Sentiment: New AI products broaden Microsoft’s growth opportunities. The Decision-1 model is described as faster and cheaper to operate than competing systems, while new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices add AI features, 5G connectivity and improved battery efficiency.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing AI growth against spending. The Maia rollout could improve long-term economics, but Microsoft is committing substantial capital to data centers and chips. Analysts are monitoring whether shrinking free cash flow and high infrastructure costs offset Azure and Copilot growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and execution risks remain. Microsoft is conducting another round of layoffs in Israel, its research chief Peter Lee is leaving for Mercedes’ Formula 1 team, and Norway fined subsidiary Xandr €8.6 million over Grindr data sharing. Nadella and President Brad Smith are also calling for stronger AI safeguards, highlighting potential compliance costs and liability risks.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $581.80.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MSFT

Microsoft Price Performance

• Microsoft Is Almost Back to $555—Now the Hard Part Begins

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $543.45 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $503.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $437.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft's productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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