Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s 2nd Largest Position

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,159 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,377 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.0% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Evergreen Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Advisors LLC now owns 571 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Financial Harvest LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 50.8% during the first quarter. Financial Harvest LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the first quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 40,138 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,858,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Ridgeline Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ridgeline Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockport Wealth LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.2% in the first quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC now owns 14,744 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,458,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations. Azure revenue increased 43% year over year, and annual Azure sales surpassed $100 billion for the first time. Management also guided to approximately 45% Azure growth in the next quarter, reinforcing confidence in Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise AI demand. Microsoft Shares Jump After Strong Outlook and Solid AI-Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: The earnings beat was substantial. Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.74, above analyst estimates of $87.62 billion and $4.24, respectively. Net income reportedly rose 31%, while revenue increased about 18% year over year. Microsoft Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates as Cloud and AI Drive Results
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization and financial discipline eased investor concerns. Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, its commercial remaining performance obligation reached $678 billion—up 84% year over year—and management held its capital-expenditure outlook broadly steady while emphasizing continued cash generation. Investors viewed this as a better balance between infrastructure investment and returns than some peers have demonstrated. Microsoft Eases AI Spending Concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts largely reaffirmed bullish views, with several price-target increases, although estimates remain wide. Microsoft’s stock is now trading well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages after a historic rally, raising the possibility of increased volatility or profit-taking.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft continues to face risks from data-center power constraints, chip costs, regulatory scrutiny and the enormous scale of AI investment. A reported cloud-security flaw that could have exposed customers adds another operational concern. Cyber Firm Wiz Reports Microsoft Cloud Flaw
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized a securities class-action lawsuit concerning investors who purchased Microsoft shares between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. Such announcements may create reputational and legal overhang, although they have not offset the earnings-driven optimism. Microsoft Securities Class Action Deadline

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $464.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $397.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $405.96. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. New Street Research decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Arete Research increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $646.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $558.64.

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).