Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Buy Rating at DA Davidson

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at DA Davidson in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $550.00 target price on the software giant’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 42.54% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. China Renaissance dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.75.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $4.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $385.85. 16,712,039 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,852,098. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $406.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $417.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains supportive, with multiple firms reiterating buy/overweight ratings and one report saying Microsoft’s AI infrastructure buildout and Azure growth continue to justify a bullish view on the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s push to unify and simplify Copilot may improve product clarity and customer adoption over time, which could help its AI platform strategy. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary argues Microsoft remains undervalued relative to its AI opportunities and could benefit from continued OpenAI-related upside and strong cloud demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing fresh securities-fraud lawsuit headlines tied to past AI disclosures, which adds legal overhang but is not the main driver of today’s trading.
• Negative Sentiment: The biggest drag today is the announced 4,800-job reduction, especially the deep cuts in Xbox, which signals ongoing weakness in the gaming unit and raises concern about restructuring costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is cutting thousands of Xbox jobs and spinning off studios suggest the gaming division is under pressure from weak demand and poor economics. Article Title

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).