First Washington CORP Has $6.05 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• First Washington CORP cut its Microsoft position by 19.7% in the first quarter, selling 4,009 shares and retaining 16,357 shares worth approximately $6.05 million. Microsoft represents about 1.7% of the firm’s portfolio, while institutions and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft delivered a strong quarterly performance, reporting $4.74 in adjusted earnings per share and $90.01 billion in revenue, both above analyst expectations. Azure growth and AI demand have supported bullish analyst sentiment, with the consensus rating at “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.87.
• Investors still face risks from elevated spending and insider selling. Rising data-center costs, potentially lower cloud margins, customer concentration in AI and recent executive share sales could weigh on sentiment despite Microsoft’s strong fundamentals.

First Washington CORP reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 19.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,357 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,009 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.7% of First Washington CORP's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. First Washington CORP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency
• Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $558.87.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $499.99 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $404.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $406.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given 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 presently 20.27%.

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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