Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 63.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,311 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,667 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.5% of Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 108,335 shares of company stock worth $53,499,700 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. CLSA reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.49.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft will begin reporting quarterly Azure revenue in fiscal 2027 and reorganize its financial reporting from three segments into two AI-focused categories. Azure generated approximately $29.4 billion in quarterly revenue and $101.9 billion for fiscal 2026, providing investors with more visibility into cloud growth and AI demand. Microsoft to reveal Azure cloud sales in financial reporting shift
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reaffirmed a Buy rating and $600 price target, while other analysts cited Microsoft’s large AI backlog, Azure’s more than $100 billion annual revenue and the potential for improved AI economics. The company’s latest earnings also showed strong momentum, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and a substantial earnings beat. Analyst reaffirms Buy on Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched GPT-6 Astra, potentially strengthening Microsoft’s AI ecosystem and demand for Azure infrastructure. Microsoft is also securing long-term power capacity for data centers and expanding Microsoft 365 Copilot integrations. OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares worth about $43.4 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale limits its significance, although it reduced his holdings by 15.09% and adds to recent insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft will impose monthly limits on Xbox cloud-gaming hours for Game Pass subscribers beginning in November as service costs rise. The change may improve economics but could hurt consumer sentiment and gaming engagement. Microsoft to impose time limits on Xbox cloud gaming
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s roughly $116 billion AI infrastructure spending plan, rising data-center costs and pressure on cloud margins. The key risk is whether the large backlog converts into profitable cash flow rather than simply future revenue.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $510.12 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business's 50-day moving average is $441.99 and its 200 day moving average is $415.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

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).

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