Brighton Jones LLC Has $356.84 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Brighton Jones LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, holding 737,853 shares valued at about $356.84 million. Microsoft is now the firm’s second-largest position and makes up roughly 13.2% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst attention, with several firms reaffirming or raising ratings and price targets. The stock currently carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $560.88.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $4.27 on revenue of $82.89 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share. Microsoft remains a large, profitable business with strong institutional ownership and ongoing AI-related growth momentum.

Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 737,853 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 27,206 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 13.2% of Brighton Jones LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $356,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is drawing bullish attention after news that its MDASH cybersecurity system outperformed Anthropic and OpenAI in a key test, reinforcing the company’s AI leadership and enterprise security story.
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and Phillip Securities both reiterated or upgraded Microsoft with bullish ratings, with fresh price targets suggesting meaningful upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced Carmine Di Sibio, former EY chairman and CEO, has joined its board of directors, which may be viewed as a governance and strategic-strengthening move.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is pursuing AI startup acquisitions beyond OpenAI suggest management is preparing new growth drivers and reducing reliance on a single AI partner.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Microsoft’s expanding AI revenue run rate and ongoing enterprise adoption, which continue to support the long-term growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces focused on Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship, including a possible revenue-sharing cap and testimony from Satya Nadella, but the market impact is still uncertain until more deal details become public.
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn’s planned 5% workforce reduction may help margins, but it also signals ongoing restructuring across Microsoft’s ecosystem rather than a clear near-term catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. competition regulator launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s business software dominance, raising the risk of future restrictions in Office, cloud, and AI-related distribution.
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage of browser-tab data collection in Microsoft Edge could add privacy concerns around Copilot and AI memory features, potentially increasing scrutiny of Microsoft’s consumer AI products.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing headlines about elevated AI spending, OpenAI-related trial testimony, and investor caution around capex may keep pressure on sentiment until Microsoft proves the returns on its AI investments.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank cut their target price on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $409.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $397.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $441.52.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

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).

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