Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price was up 1.5% during trading on Monday after Melius Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Melius Research now has a $665.00 price target on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $532.35 and last traded at $525.18. Approximately 25,112,424 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 34,664,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $517.53.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $578.73.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expected to unveil a new Nvidia-powered Windows laptop at its October 7 event, highlighting on-device AI agents that can perform tasks such as coding without relying entirely on the cloud. The product could strengthen Windows’ role in the emerging AI-PC market. Microsoft, Nvidia CEOs to unveil new AI laptop at San Francisco event
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain optimistic that AI demand is translating into higher Azure revenue, Copilot usage and enterprise software sales. BNP Paribas raised its price forecast to $604, while Melius Research upgraded Microsoft to Buy with a $665 target, citing demand for AI security, governance and trusted enterprise tools. Microsoft: AI-Driven Azure Upside Spurs Buy Rating and Target Price Hike
• Positive Sentiment: Commentators including Jim Cramer argue that Microsoft’s multiyear AI investment is beginning to produce revenue, with Azure growth, Copilot adoption and its OpenAI relationship viewed more favorably. Microsoft’s recent earnings beats and reported 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth reinforce the bullish case.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly reducing employees’ internal reliance on Anthropic’s Claude while promoting its own AI tools and models. This could lower third-party costs and improve control, although investors will watch whether Microsoft can maintain product quality and enterprise adoption.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that substantial AI capital expenditures are pressuring free cash flow, while the stock’s valuation leaves less room for execution disappointments. Rising Treasury yields could also weigh on megacap technology shares, and Microsoft is on track to trail the S&P 500 for a third consecutive year despite its recent rally.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Montgomery Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $495.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $432.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

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.