Royal Bank Of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $640.00 target price on the software giant’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 39.86% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. China Renaissance dropped their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Arete Research upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $558.64.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $67.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $457.59. The company had a trading volume of 83,742,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,416,223. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $396.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $405.74. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Platform Technology Partners increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.4% in the second quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 45,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,070,000 after buying an additional 3,167 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 35,154 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. SWP Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 33.4% during the second quarter. SWP Financial LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.5% during the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 23,516 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations. Azure revenue increased 43% year over year, above the roughly 40% analyst forecast, and annual Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. Intelligent Cloud revenue rose 32% to $39.3 billion, strengthening confidence in Microsoft’s cloud and AI strategy. Microsoft tops quarterly cloud growth estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft delivered a broad earnings beat. Fiscal Q4 revenue reached $90.01 billion versus an $87.62 billion consensus estimate, while adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.74 versus $4.24 expected. Revenue grew 17.7% year over year and net income rose about 31%. Microsoft Q4 earnings beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization is gaining traction. Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid users, up from 20 million in April. Management also cited strong AI demand, a large customer backlog and a first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue outlook of $89.9 billion to $91.0 billion, slightly above consensus. Analysts responded with multiple buy-rating reiterations and higher price targets. Microsoft shares set for best day in nearly 18 years
• Neutral Sentiment: Capital spending remains elevated but appears more manageable. Microsoft’s projected 2026 capital expenditures declined to approximately $175 billion from $190 billion, largely because of an accounting adjustment rather than a major reduction in AI investment. The company said GPU spending can be slowed if demand weakens, while extending data-center lifespans may improve returns. Microsoft’s capex forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal overhangs persist. The U.K. competition regulator is investigating whether Microsoft misled customers about Microsoft 365 subscription options, while several law firms publicized securities-fraud lawsuits related to alleged Copilot disclosures. UK investigation into Microsoft 365 subscriptions
• Negative Sentiment: Cloud-security and competitive risks remain. Cybersecurity firm Wiz reported a flaw that could potentially have exposed Microsoft cloud customers, and Nvidia’s proposed financing backstop for OpenAI highlights uncertainty around AI infrastructure financing and Microsoft’s relationship with competing AI platforms. Wiz report on Microsoft cloud flaw

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).