Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 5.7% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded up 5.7% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $376.61 and last traded at $372.97. Approximately 181,996,999 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 384% from the average session volume of 37,577,375 shares. The stock had previously closed at $352.83.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is benefiting from a rebound in the broader memory and semiconductor complex, which is easing some of the pressure that has weighed on AI-related tech stocks. Microsoft Has Fallen 25% This Year: What Could Push MSFT Back to $500?
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and other bullish commentators argued that investors are treating Microsoft like a “bear market” stock even though its long-term AI and cloud story remains intact, suggesting the recent weakness may be a buying opportunity. Dan Ives Says Microsoft And Meta Are Being Treated Like ‘Bear Market’ Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlighted Microsoft’s partnerships and ecosystem expansion, including Commvault becoming a native Azure service and ICON plc naming Microsoft its preferred technology partner, reinforcing Azure/Copilot adoption. Microsoft Just Made Commvault a Native Azure Service. Here Is How to Play CVLT Stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Michael Burry disclosed a long position in Microsoft, which adds a headline boost, but investors are treating it more as a sentiment signal than a direct business catalyst. Microsoft buy alert as Michael Burry goes long on MSFT stock
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft raised Xbox prices again, citing soaring memory and storage costs, underscoring margin pressure in gaming and adding to concerns that AI and hardware inflation are squeezing profitability. Microsoft lifts price of Xbox consoles due to soaring component costs
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its Microsoft price target, saying cloud-margin estimates are too high as Azure growth requires heavier capital spending, which has fueled investor worries about future profitability. Stifel cuts Microsoft target, says Street FY27 gross margin estimates are too high
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft also faces fresh legal and regulatory pressure, including an Italian antitrust probe over Microsoft 365 price hikes and multiple shareholder class-action notices tied to alleged securities fraud. Italy regulator probes Microsoft over ‘Microsoft 365’ price hike

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “market outperform” rating for the company. Forty-one 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.86.

Microsoft Trading Up 5.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $411.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $421.81. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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).