Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Acquires 57,524 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1,107.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,718 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 57,524 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.9% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI growth remain the main bullish drivers. Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for fiscal 2026, while fourth-quarter cloud growth accelerated to 43%. Microsoft also reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, both ahead of consensus estimates. Microsoft Azure Fiscal 2026 Sales Exceed $100B
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst confidence is strengthening. Tigress Financial raised its Microsoft price target to $690, citing durable AI and cloud growth, while Goldman Sachs reportedly added Microsoft to its high-conviction list. Tigress Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its enterprise AI ecosystem through an A10 Networks warrant, a healthcare partnership with Assuta Medical Centers and deeper use of OpenAI models in GitHub Copilot. These developments could support AI adoption and recurring software demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI concentration is drawing investor attention. Reports suggest OpenAI may represent roughly 70% of Microsoft’s AI revenue, highlighting both the commercial value of the partnership and the risk of relying heavily on one customer and technology partner. OpenAI May Account for 70% of Microsoft’s AI Revenue
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are reassessing valuation after a sharp rally. Commentary increasingly describes Microsoft as potentially overvalued or technically extended, encouraging profit-taking despite strong fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and insider-selling headlines add pressure. Multiple law firms promoted a securities-fraud class action alleging misleading Copilot and Azure-related disclosures, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. Separately, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares worth approximately $2.4 million, reducing his direct ownership by 10.13%.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces scrutiny over AI infrastructure spending, including more than $100 billion in future data-center lease commitments across Big Tech and potential optical-component supply constraints. These commitments could improve long-term capacity but raise concerns about capital intensity, execution and near-term margins.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $487.46 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $402.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $406.03. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.87.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 28,572 shares of company stock worth $12,896,430 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).