Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 1.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price traded up 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $405.99 and last traded at $401.10. Approximately 36,467,996 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 37,522,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $395.63.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a strategic partnership with 3M to advance AI data-center infrastructure and enterprise transformation, giving investors another sign that MSFT’s Azure ecosystem remains a key partner for large corporate customers. 3M and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remained constructive on Microsoft despite trimming price targets, citing AI leadership, Azure and Microsoft 365 budget tailwinds, and what they see as underappreciated earnings power. Josh Baer Reiterates Buy on Microsoft, Citing AI Leadership, Azure/M365 Budget Tailwinds and Underappreciated Earnings Power
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also looking ahead to July 29 earnings, with preview coverage focusing on Copilot adoption and AI monetization as potential catalysts if Microsoft can show strong growth with manageable margin pressure. Microsoft Earnings Preview: Copilot, AI Spending and Margins Are in Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly training its sales force to promote in-house AI offerings over rivals such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, underscoring a more aggressive competitive stance in AI sales. Microsoft Wants Sales Team to Push Its Own AI Models Instead of Rivals OpenAI, Google and Anthropic: Report
• Negative Sentiment: Offsetting the bullish AI story, Microsoft continues to face investor concern over rising AI spending, margin pressure, and price-target cuts from some Wall Street firms ahead of earnings. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Gets Price Target Cuts Ahead of Earnings – Here’s Why
• Negative Sentiment: Legal headlines are also a drag, with multiple class-action notices alleging Microsoft misled investors about Copilot and AI adoption, which could keep sentiment cautious. MSFT Shareholder Alert: August 11, 2026 Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Microsoft Corporation Securities Class Action
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s restructuring of its Xbox business remains a concern, with reports describing layoffs and a major reset in gaming strategy after a costly bet on the division. Why Microsoft’s $80 Billion Xbox Bet Backfired

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup raised Microsoft from a “market outperform” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.96.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $401.10 and a 200-day moving average of $412.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft’s revenue 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 anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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).