OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC Raises Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 63.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,494 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,141 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.0% of OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berman McAleer LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,558,000. Private Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 205,099 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $106,231,000 after acquiring an additional 6,231 shares during the period. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.6% in the third quarter. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. now owns 43,512 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $22,537,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in Microsoft by 4.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 14,288,881 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,400,926,000 after acquiring an additional 624,236 shares during the period. Finally, Twin City Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 target price (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $401.72 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $484.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and AI strategists argue Microsoft is a core AI infrastructure winner — a driver for investor interest given Azure, identity/auth layers and high switching costs that position MSFT to benefit from AI-driven enterprise spending. AI Is Separating Software Winners From Losers
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s new collaboration with Starlink signals expanded connectivity and potential Azure edge use cases (rural/remote customers), supporting cloud revenue optionality and positive sentiment around partnership-driven growth. Microsoft Is Teaming up With Starlink
• Positive Sentiment: An insider purchase (director John Stanton) added a small but visible vote of confidence after the post-earnings sell-off, which can support short-term sentiment and stabilize shares. Director Stanton John Just Bought $2 Million of Microsoft Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: The White House’s planned power-cost pledge with big cloud/data-center firms (including Microsoft) reduces one operational risk for hyperscalers and could be a modest long-term positive for data-center economics, though timing/implementation remain uncertain. White House to host Big Tech pledge
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella’s public comments pushing back on low-quality “AI slop” reflect management trying to shape the narrative around responsible, enterprise-grade AI — a reputational plus but contributed to short-term volatility as markets parsed the tone. Satya Nadella Rails Against AI Slop
• Negative Sentiment: Japan’s Fair Trade Commission raided Microsoft Japan offices in a probe into possible restrictions around Azure customers using rival cloud services — this antitrust scrutiny is an immediate regulatory overhang that can hurt sentiment and add legal/operational uncertainty. Microsoft Japan raided over suspected violation of anti-monopoly law
• Negative Sentiment: Market debate continues over Azure growth pacing vs. very large AI infrastructure capex (management flagged elevated AI-related investment), which knocked the stock after Q2 despite beats — investors are weighing near-term margin/cash impact against longer-term AI revenue upside. Microsoft Stock Opinions on Fiscal Q2 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Broader sector risks — heightened talk of AI regulation and a Magnificent Seven rotation — keep pressure on valuations and can amplify moves in MSFT even when fundamentals are solid; this contributes to volatility until clarity on regulation and data-center costs emerges. Will Regulating AI Cripple AI Stocks?

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).