Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given “Buy” Rating at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research note published on Monday,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Mizuho set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $633.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $507.49 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $514.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $497.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. BLVD Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Seek First Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Financial Advisors boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.