DA Davidson Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at DA Davidson in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $550.00 price target on the software giant’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price points to a potential upside of 18.35% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $646.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.64.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $464.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $397.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $405.96. Microsoft has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 19.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations. Azure revenue increased 43% year over year, and annual Azure sales surpassed $100 billion for the first time. Management also guided to approximately 45% Azure growth in the next quarter, reinforcing confidence in Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise AI demand. Microsoft Shares Jump After Strong Outlook and Solid AI-Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: The earnings beat was substantial. Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.74, above analyst estimates of $87.62 billion and $4.24, respectively. Net income reportedly rose 31%, while revenue increased about 18% year over year. Microsoft Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates as Cloud and AI Drive Results
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization and financial discipline eased investor concerns. Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, its commercial remaining performance obligation reached $678 billion—up 84% year over year—and management held its capital-expenditure outlook broadly steady while emphasizing continued cash generation. Investors viewed this as a better balance between infrastructure investment and returns than some peers have demonstrated. Microsoft Eases AI Spending Concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts largely reaffirmed bullish views, with several price-target increases, although estimates remain wide. Microsoft’s stock is now trading well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages after a historic rally, raising the possibility of increased volatility or profit-taking.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft continues to face risks from data-center power constraints, chip costs, regulatory scrutiny and the enormous scale of AI investment. A reported cloud-security flaw that could have exposed customers adds another operational concern. Cyber Firm Wiz Reports Microsoft Cloud Flaw
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized a securities class-action lawsuit concerning investors who purchased Microsoft shares between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. Such announcements may create reputational and legal overhang, although they have not offset the earnings-driven optimism. Microsoft Securities Class Action Deadline

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).