Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets set a $610.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Melius Research raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $665.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $530.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $512.10 and a 200-day moving average of $438.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $551.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 19.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Montgomery Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft exceeded expectations with $92.3 billion in revenue and $4.89 in earnings per share. Azure revenue rose 48% to approximately $33.2 billion, while total cloud revenue increased 30%, reinforcing confidence that AI demand is translating into sales. Microsoft’s latest earnings beat the Street
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their price targets, with Citigroup moving to $680 and several firms setting targets between $625 and $650. Microsoft’s strong free cash flow—reportedly about $28 billion above Alphabet’s—also gives it greater flexibility to fund AI investment without immediately straining its finances. Microsoft’s cash flow edge over Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft plans to issue roughly $25 billion of bonds to support its AI infrastructure expansion. Strong demand for the offering signals investor confidence in Microsoft’s credit quality, but the borrowing also highlights how expensive the AI buildout is becoming. Microsoft plans to raise $25 billion in debt
• Neutral Sentiment: Capital spending guidance was reduced because of delays by third-party infrastructure providers, not weaker demand. The delay may defer near-term capacity and revenue, while Microsoft’s offer of buyouts to approximately 60,000 employees suggests an effort to improve efficiency as spending shifts toward AI. AI buildout hits a snag
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that AI spending could pressure future margins and returns, particularly after Microsoft’s large bond sale. Windows sales also fell 22% as higher memory costs weakened PC demand, adding a slower-growth counterweight to the cloud momentum. Microsoft’s Windows sales fell 22%

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company’s principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.