Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Cut to $530.00 by Analysts at Wolfe Research

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research from $625.00 to $530.00 in a report released on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the software giant’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.26% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus set a $540.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Redburn Partners set a $450.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price target (down from $610.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $655.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $597.73.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $433.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $476.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.21. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.48% and a net margin of 39.04%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft beat Wall Street on top and bottom lines — EPS $4.14 and revenue $81.27B, showing continued cloud- and AI-driven revenue growth. Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial backlog (RPO) surged — companies report a very large contracted backlog (reported at ~$625B), signaling strong demand for Azure and AI services over coming years. Demand backlog doubles to $625B
• Positive Sentiment: New customer wins for Azure AI capacity — reports that Perplexity signed a multi-year cloud deal with Microsoft (reported at ~$750M) reinforce Azure demand and ecosystem monetization. Perplexity signs $750M deal with Microsoft
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reaction is mixed — many firms reaffirm “buy/overweight” but trimmed price targets; the Street remains broadly positive on the long-term AI thesis while re-pricing near-term expectations. Analysts slash forecasts after Q2
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/tech progress continues — Microsoft announced its Maia 200 AI accelerator and reiterated use of both in‑house and third‑party chips, a strategic signal for vertical integration even as it still buys GPUs. Microsoft launches Maia 200
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy AI capex and slower Azure growth spooked investors — Microsoft reported ~$37.5B in capex and guided to slightly lower sequential Azure growth, prompting a sharp selloff as traders question near-term returns on massive infrastructure spending. Why Microsoft tumbled 10%
• Negative Sentiment: Market impact and sentiment shock — the earnings reaction triggered sector-wide selling, software ETFs fell and MSFT’s market cap dropped materially, increasing volatility and re-rating near-term multiples. Software ETFs sink as MSFT stumbles
• Negative Sentiment: Investor litigation and scrutiny — law firms have announced investigations and outreach to investors, a sign of heightened legal/regulatory attention after the volatile reaction. Investor investigations announced

Microsoft Company Profile

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).