Microsoft’s (MSFT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada restated their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research note released on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $483.63 on Monday. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $489.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $503.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank reaffirmed a Buy rating on Microsoft, which supports investor confidence and can buoy the stock ahead of results. Scotiabank Keeps Their Buy Rating on Microsoft (MSFT)
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic is pursuing a huge new funding round (reportedly $10B at a ~$350B valuation) separate from the $15B pledges by Nvidia and Microsoft — this underscores MSFT’s deepening strategic exposure to big AI winners and supports long-term AI upside. Anthropic Aims to Nearly Double Valuation in New Funding Round
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI (Microsoft-backed) launched ChatGPT Health, expanding AI use cases into healthcare — a high-value, enterprise-facing market that can drive Azure usage and product stickiness. OpenAI Pushes Deeper into Health Care with New ChatGPT Health Feature
• Positive Sentiment: Copilot’s high‑profile placement (calls tied to Super Bowl 60) and a new Azure-powered deal with Hexagon for humanoid factory robots deliver positive PR and concrete enterprise use cases that can help user/adoption metrics. Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Jumps as Copilot Calls Super Bowl 60 Microsoft, Hexagon Put Humanoid Robots On Factory Floors
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft set its quarterly earnings release date — an upcoming report is a direct catalyst that often increases trading volume and volatility as investors position around Azure/Copilot results. Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date
• Neutral Sentiment: Large option trades (“market whales”) were active in MSFT — heavy option flow can amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous on direction until positions are netted out. Market Whales and Their Recent Bets on MSFT Options
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage debate over valuation — several pieces (Forbes, valuation analyses) argue Microsoft may be expensive at current multiples, which can limit upside and encourage profit‑taking despite strong fundamentals. Is Microsoft Stock Expensive?
• Negative Sentiment: Repeated media reports and rumors that Microsoft is planning thousands of job cuts (estimates vary widely) create near‑term uncertainty and headline risk; while cuts could boost margins later, they typically pressure sentiment on the news. Microsoft (MSFT) Is Rumored to Be Planning Thousands of Job Cuts as AI Spending Accelerates
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about gaming market stagnation and AI’s impact on game development raised in industry pieces could weigh on Xbox/consumer-revenue sentiment for investors focused on that segment. 2025’s Most Popular Games Raise Concerns for Sony, Microsoft (MSFT) & Nintendo (NTDOF)

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).