Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) had its target price raised by research analysts at DA Davidson from $550.00 to $650.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the software giant’s stock. DA Davidson‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 24.16% from the company’s previous close.
A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on MSFT. Bank of America increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. BMO Capital Markets set a $610.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp set a $625.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Melius Research set a $665.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Forty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $607.93.
Microsoft Price Performance
NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $7.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $523.51. 19,687,711 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 33,390,289. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $511.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $437.96. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $551.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.71 by $0.18. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 19.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 315,653,206 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $117,744,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,944,917 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 64,375,360 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $24,013,297,000 after acquiring an additional 543,172 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $18,306,443,000. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 12.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 46,694,778 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,418,076,000 after purchasing an additional 5,019,702 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft exceeded expectations with fiscal first-quarter revenue of $92.28 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.89, compared with estimates of $90.62 billion and $4.71. Revenue increased 18.8% year over year. Microsoft earnings report
- Positive Sentiment: Azure growth accelerated 48% to approximately $33.2 billion, while Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30% to $63.9 billion. The results suggest enterprise AI demand is converting into meaningful cloud revenue, helping the company outperform Alphabet in investor sentiment. Azure revenue growth
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets, including Cantor Fitzgerald to $630, Piper Sandler to $650 and Bank of America to $630, citing Azure momentum, AI adoption and Microsoft’s strong cash generation. Microsoft analyst price target
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft reportedly plans to raise at least $25 billion in bonds, its first major U.S. debt sale since 2017, to fund AI infrastructure. The financing underscores demand and investment capacity, but also increases scrutiny of returns and leverage as spending expands. Microsoft bond sale
- Negative Sentiment: Microsoft reduced its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to $170 billion from $175 billion after delays by third-party AI-chip providers pushed some capacity into the first half of 2027. The delay raises questions about near-term growth timing and contributed to weakness across AI infrastructure stocks. Microsoft AI capital expenditures
- Negative Sentiment: OpenAI generated about $10 billion, or nearly 11%, of Microsoft’s quarterly revenue. While commercially significant, the concentration highlights customer and related-party exposure as Microsoft and OpenAI increasingly compete in some AI markets. Microsoft OpenAI revenue
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.
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