BNP Paribas Exane Raises Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $659.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price increased by equities researchers at BNP Paribas Exane from $632.00 to $659.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the software giant’s stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s price target points to a potential upside of 36.83% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MSFT. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $690.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Microsoft from $665.00 to $630.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $450.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.58.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $481.63 on Tuesday. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $477.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $500.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% during 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 valued at $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after buying an additional 13,691,572 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly beat — Microsoft reported $4.14 EPS and ~$81.3B revenue, topping consensus and reassuring investors on core demand. Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations with $81.3B revenue
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI payoff — Microsoft recorded a ~$7.6B gain tied to OpenAI activity, which boosted non‑GAAP EPS and highlights monetization of its AI investments. Microsoft gained $7.6 billion from OpenAI last quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud momentum — Azure and Microsoft Cloud continued strong growth (reports cite large percentage gains and Microsoft Cloud topping ~$50B quarterly), supporting the longer-term AI/cloud thesis. Microsoft beats Q2 earnings as Azure jumps 39%
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure and long-term positioning — New Maia 200 AI chip rollout and approvals for more data centers support MSFT’s effort to control stack and reduce third‑party GPU exposure. Microsoft’s Maia 200: The Profit Engine AI Needs
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance roughly in line but watched closely — Microsoft issued revenue guidance near the Street range (~$80.7B–$81.8B), leaving limited upside vs. elevated cloud expectations. See the company press materials for details. Microsoft earnings press release
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst activity — Some firms reiterated buys and raised targets (e.g., BNP Paribas/Raymond James), while others trimmed targets citing margin pressure; this produced divergent analyst reactions rather than a consensus swing. BNP Paribas raises price target
• Negative Sentiment: Record capex and AI hardware spending — Microsoft reported very large capital expenditures (well above some estimates), fueling investor concern about near‑term margin pressure and free‑cash‑flow timing. Microsoft drops after reporting record spending on AI hardware
• Negative Sentiment: Cloud growth expectations vs. reality — Headlines noting cloud growth “slowed” vs. sky‑high expectations and commentary that elevated cloud targets left limited upside helped trigger after‑hours selling. Microsoft edges past cloud growth expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Immediate market reaction — Despite the beat, traders sold after the report (several outlets flagged a sharp post‑earnings drop) as investors focused on capex, guidance nuance, and elevated expectations. Microsoft’s stock could see its sharpest post-earnings drop in over three years
• Negative Sentiment: Other headwinds — A few operational/competitive items (third‑party Xbox cancellations, France pulling back on videoconferencing contracts) were noted as marginal drags on sentiment. Microsoft slips on third-party Xbox game cancellations

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).