Microsoft’s (MSFT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research report report published on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Forty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.62.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $512.90 on Monday. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $484.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.53. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $85,604,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its stake in Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $502,077,000 after purchasing an additional 788,297 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $610 from $550 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing improving estimates for Microsoft’s commercial cloud business and potential revenue from the new E7 enterprise licensing tier. Why is Microsoft stock up on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s revamped Copilot is becoming more enterprise-focused, while usage-based billing expected to begin in November could simplify adoption and improve monetization. Analysts also see potential for paid Copilot seats to continue expanding rapidly. What a Revamped Copilot Means for Microsoft Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is bringing OpenAI’s autonomous “Dots” agents into its enterprise security and governance framework, strengthening its position in workplace AI. A long-term Xbox publishing agreement with Take-Two also supports the gaming ecosystem. Microsoft Brings OpenAI’s Autonomous Dots AI Workers Into the Enterprise
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft has delivered a substantial quarterly rally, but its valuation remains below its recent average P/E despite strong Azure growth, expanding Copilot demand and a sizable commercial backlog. This leaves room for additional upside, although expectations are already elevated. How Much Upside Is Left In Microsoft Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that surging AI infrastructure spending could outpace free cash flow before Azure and Copilot returns fully materialize. Microsoft also warns that AI agents may weaken traditional software pricing power and customer loyalty. The AI Revolution Could Be Microsoft’s Next Trillion-Dollar Opportunity

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.