Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Bumped Down to “Hold” by Phillip Securities

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was downgraded by research analysts at Phillip Securities from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $581.80.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $543.45 on Monday. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. 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 $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $503.23 and a 200-day moving average of $437.50.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% 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. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 23.5% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 322,846 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $165,588,000 after purchasing an additional 61,526 shares during the last quarter. Fearless Solutions LLC dba Best Invest grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Fearless Solutions LLC dba Best Invest now owns 7,042 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,612,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. ASK Capital Investment Managers LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $5,277,000. Q Fund Management Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 780.0% in the third quarter. Q Fund Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 880 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Citrine Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the third quarter. Citrine Capital LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 strengthens Microsoft’s AI infrastructure strategy. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 AI chip and plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning in 2027. The company says the chip can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, potentially lowering computing costs and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD. Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Maia 300 Custom AI Chip For Widespread Deployment
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud demand remain major valuation catalysts. Reports highlight accelerating Azure demand, a record commercial backlog and more than $130 billion in new data-center leases, supporting expectations for continued growth in cloud and AI services. Microsoft also has several generations of proprietary AI chips, giving investors a potential long-term margin and supply-chain advantage. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism provides additional support. Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects greater differentiation in software as the next quarter progresses. The company is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter results on October 28, with analysts looking for roughly $4.72 in earnings per share and $90.4 billion in revenue. Microsoft price target raised to $600 from $512 at Barclays

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.