Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 2.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Monday after CLSA upgraded the stock to a moderate buy rating. The company traded as high as $403.18 and last traded at $402.29. 27,699,570 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 37,420,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $393.82.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on MSFT. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 6th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Arete Research upped their target price on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-three investment 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.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $556.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist reaffirmed its Buy rating on Microsoft and set a $575 price target, while other recent analyst commentary from Morgan Stanley and Bernstein remained upbeat on the company’s AI and cloud growth potential. Analyst upgrade and price target coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its strategic partnership with Mistral AI, including support for European AI infrastructure, which could strengthen Azure demand and deepen its enterprise AI footprint. Reuters article on Mistral deal
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also committed $60 million to the DOE’s “Genesis Mission” AI-for-science push, reinforcing the company’s role in government and research AI workloads. GeekWire Genesis Mission article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary ahead of next week’s earnings said Microsoft remains a potential value play, with bulls pointing to Azure growth, AI monetization, and strong long-term cash generation. Zacks pre-earnings outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles framed Microsoft’s upcoming July 29 earnings report as a key test of Azure momentum, AI capex discipline, and Copilot adoption. Investors appear focused on whether the company can justify its large spending while sustaining growth. Proactive Investors earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued class action reminders and deadline alerts related to alleged securities fraud, citing claims tied to Microsoft’s AI/Copilot disclosures and earlier stock declines. These headlines can create overhang and increase investor uncertainty. Class action filing alert
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent analysis argued Microsoft has underperformed for years and questioned whether AI spending is generating enough immediate return, adding to the “dead money” narrative ahead of earnings. Seeking Alpha commentary

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.9% in the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Better Money Decisions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,251 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $399.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $409.57. The company has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

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).