Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Moved Down to “Neutral” by Griffin Securities

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was downgraded by equities researchers at Griffin Securities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Evercore upgraded Microsoft from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 28th. KeyCorp set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Forty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $608.59.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.9%

MSFT traded down $4.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $526.47. 24,214,406 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,411,504. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $511.18 and its 200 day moving average is $437.96. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $551.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.71 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 19.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 have sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sullivan Wood Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.2% during the third quarter. Sullivan Wood Capital Management LLC now owns 647 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,272 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. PMG Family Office LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. PMG Family Office LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Financial Group boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the third quarter. Dynamic Financial Group now owns 1,439 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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: Microsoft exceeded expectations with revenue of $92.28 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.89. Azure revenue growth accelerated to 48%, while Microsoft Cloud revenue increased 30%, supporting the view that AI investments are generating substantial demand. Microsoft Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates as Cloud Accelerates
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their Microsoft price targets, with TD Cowen, D.A. Davidson and Piper Sandler moving to $650, and other firms maintaining bullish ratings. Analysts cited Azure momentum, strong cash flow, Copilot adoption and Microsoft’s broad positioning across AI infrastructure and software. Microsoft Stock Has More Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft generated approximately $18.6 billion in free cash flow during the quarter and reportedly earned $10 billion from commercial arrangements with OpenAI. That cash-generation advantage gives the company flexibility to fund its AI buildout and strengthens its competitive position relative to Alphabet. Microsoft recorded $10 billion in revenue from OpenAI
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is seeking at least $25 billion through its first major bond offering since 2017 to support AI infrastructure expansion. The financing highlights strong investment plans but also raises investor focus on leverage, capital discipline and returns on spending. Microsoft Seeks $25 Billion Bond Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s lower-than-expected capital spending and a reduced 2026 capex outlook reflect delays from third-party AI chip and data-center providers. Capacity is now expected to become available mainly in the first half of 2027, potentially slowing near-term monetization. AI build-out hits snag
• Negative Sentiment: Additional pressure comes from reports of a global memory shortage hurting Windows PC sales and from concerns that Microsoft’s Edge browser remains vulnerable to basic logic bugs. These issues are smaller than the earnings story but add to broader worries about software demand and execution. The Memory Crunch Is Crushing Microsoft Windows PC Sales

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company’s principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.