Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $610.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target lifted by Piper Sandler from $550.00 to $610.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 28th. CLSA reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Argus lowered their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $571.18.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $517.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $490.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $429.97. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,272 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the second quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% during the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Sequent Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the first quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.8% in the second quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI demand remain the primary catalyst. Investor data and analyst commentary point to accelerating Azure demand, while Microsoft’s recent earnings showed its fastest cloud growth in four years. The improving demand is helping ease concerns that the company’s substantial AI infrastructure spending will not generate adequate returns. Ca$htag: MSFT Azure Cloud Drives Soaring Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo added Microsoft to its Q4 Tactical Ideas list and raised its price target to $725, citing Azure’s growth potential and the prospect of improved AI monetization through Copilot. The action adds to a series of bullish analyst revisions; one report noted that 52 analysts covering Microsoft currently have no sell ratings. With Azure as a Catalyst, Microsoft Is Positioned for Sustained Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship provides potential additional value. Investors are increasingly focused on Microsoft’s stake and commercial partnership with OpenAI, particularly ahead of a possible OpenAI initial public offering that could provide a market reference for the investment. OpenAI’s Future IPO Keeps Me Buying Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced new real-time AI speech models for customer-service agents, multilingual assistants and voice interfaces. The products broaden Microsoft’s enterprise AI offering and could support additional cloud consumption and software revenue. Microsoft Targets Contact Center Market With Real-Time AI Voice Models
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting Microsoft’s October 7 Surface and Windows event. New hardware or Windows updates could support the ecosystem, although the event has not yet produced a material earnings catalyst. Microsoft Stock Notches Up Ahead of the Surface Show
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include heavy AI capital spending, valuation concerns and broader market concentration. Critics argue that rising data-center capacity could pressure compute pricing and returns, while strategists warn that a market correction could disproportionately affect megacap technology stocks. Microsoft’s dividend remains affordable, but AI infrastructure spending and lease commitments could limit future dividend growth. Morgan Stanley Strategist Sees Market Drawdown Potential

Microsoft Company Profile

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.