Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.8% – Here’s Why

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) were up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $377.22 and last traded at $373.94. Approximately 39,431,247 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the average daily volume of 36,088,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $367.34.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a major long-term infrastructure deal with Chevron for a 20-year, 2.67-gigawatt natural-gas power facility in West Texas to support a planned $7 billion AI data center. The project helps secure dedicated power for Microsoft’s expanding AI/cloud workloads and underscores continued investment in AI capacity. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is also getting credit for additional AI commercialization efforts, including Stagwell’s integration of Microsoft Advertising with Copilot in live media campaigns, which shows the company moving AI from pilot projects into real business use cases. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces argue Microsoft is attractively valued after its pullback, with some analysts and writers saying the stock may offer meaningful upside if AI and cloud growth remain strong. 24/7 Wall St. article
• Neutral Sentiment: At the same time, several reports note that Microsoft remains under pressure from a broader selloff in AI/mega-cap tech as investors question whether heavy AI spending is translating into near-term returns. Yahoo Finance article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing multiple reminders about a pending securities fraud class action tied to alleged Copilot and Azure misstatements, keeping legal overhang in focus ahead of the August 11 deadline. Business Wire article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst commentary remains cautious on Microsoft’s near-term setup, with concerns that the stock’s AI narrative is still being tested by high capex, competitive pressures, and weaker technical momentum. Finbold article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Citigroup started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “market outperform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $412.26 and a 200-day moving average of $424.28. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).