Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Increased by W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co

Key Points

• W.G. Shaheen & Associates increased its Microsoft position by 3.5% in the first quarter to 130,159 shares valued at approximately $48.2 million, making Microsoft the firm’s second-largest holding.
• Microsoft reported a strong quarter, with $90.01 billion in revenue and $4.74 in EPS, beating estimates; revenue rose 17.7% year over year, driven by cloud and AI growth.
• Analysts maintain a bullish outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $558.64, though executives have recently sold shares and Microsoft faces risks from high AI-investment costs, regulatory scrutiny and cloud-security concerns.

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,159 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,377 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.0% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co's holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in 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. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $464.72 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $397.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $405.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $558.64.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

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

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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