Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Climb 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 1.5% on Monday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $615.00 to $625.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $533.25 and last traded at $532.60. Approximately 18,065,767 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 33,548,254 shares. The stock had previously closed at $524.51.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Melius Research set a $665.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial lowered Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $594.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents 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 sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their price targets ahead of earnings, citing resilient enterprise demand, accelerating Azure growth and rising Copilot adoption. Oppenheimer increased its target to $625, while Truist raised its target to $600 and maintained a Buy rating. Oppenheimer raises Microsoft target ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas maintained an Outperform rating and a $604 target, arguing that Azure’s acceleration and stronger Copilot demand could support improved AI monetization. Investors are also watching the upcoming results for evidence that Microsoft’s substantial AI investments are translating into revenue. Microsoft’s Copilot and Azure demand
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s earnings preview remains constructive, with analysts expecting continued cloud growth and healthy enterprise demand. The company previously exceeded revenue and earnings estimates, providing a favorable backdrop ahead of Wednesday’s report. Microsoft earnings preview and raised targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to approximately 60,000 employees across the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K., primarily outside data-center, sales and marketing roles. The program could reduce costs and redirect resources toward AI, but the scale of the restructuring highlights the expense and organizational disruption associated with the AI buildout. Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts
• Negative Sentiment: Risks ahead of earnings include capital spending above $50 billion, AI infrastructure capacity constraints, weaker PC demand and concerns that Microsoft’s valuation already assumes near-perfect execution. Grid delays affecting an AI data-center project also underscore the difficulty of expanding capacity quickly. Microsoft stock outlook before earnings

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 315,653,206 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $117,744,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,944,917 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 543,172 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $18,306,443,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 46,694,778 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,418,076,000 after buying an additional 5,019,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $508.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $446.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

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.