Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Jumps 1.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after Melius Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Melius Research now has a $665.00 price target on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $532.35 and last traded at $525.18. 25,112,424 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 34,664,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $517.53.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. CLSA reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $578.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expected to unveil a new Nvidia-powered Windows laptop at its October 7 event, highlighting on-device AI agents that can perform tasks such as coding without relying entirely on the cloud. The product could strengthen Windows’ role in the emerging AI-PC market. Microsoft, Nvidia CEOs to unveil new AI laptop at San Francisco event
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain optimistic that AI demand is translating into higher Azure revenue, Copilot usage and enterprise software sales. BNP Paribas raised its price forecast to $604, while Melius Research upgraded Microsoft to Buy with a $665 target, citing demand for AI security, governance and trusted enterprise tools. Microsoft: AI-Driven Azure Upside Spurs Buy Rating and Target Price Hike
• Positive Sentiment: Commentators including Jim Cramer argue that Microsoft’s multiyear AI investment is beginning to produce revenue, with Azure growth, Copilot adoption and its OpenAI relationship viewed more favorably. Microsoft’s recent earnings beats and reported 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth reinforce the bullish case.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly reducing employees’ internal reliance on Anthropic’s Claude while promoting its own AI tools and models. This could lower third-party costs and improve control, although investors will watch whether Microsoft can maintain product quality and enterprise adoption.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that substantial AI capital expenditures are pressuring free cash flow, while the stock’s valuation leaves less room for execution disappointments. Rising Treasury yields could also weigh on megacap technology shares, and Microsoft is on track to trail the S&P 500 for a third consecutive year despite its recent rally.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nautilus Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the third quarter. Nautilus Advisors LLC now owns 6,205 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Stewardship Concepts Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stewardship Concepts Financial Services LLC now owns 1,993 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Mallini Complete Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $533,000. RVW Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. RVW Wealth LLC now owns 8,079 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,006 shares during the period. Finally, Boyum Wealth Architects LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Boyum Wealth Architects LLC now owns 2,015 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $432.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.