Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $588.00 Price Target at HSBC

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price trimmed by HSBC from $667.00 to $588.00 in a research note released on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

MSFT has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Arete Research increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Rothschild Redb downgraded Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $597.73.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

MSFT traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $436.37. 6,379,507 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,381,666. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $476.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $500.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 33.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. BLVD Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Seek First Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

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

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).