Bank of America Initiates Coverage on Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Analysts at Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the software giant’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 34.76% from the company’s current price.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Phillip Securities raised Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 price objective (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $588.97.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $371.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $413.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $469.35. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $7,883,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,815,000. Carter Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $307,000. Cornerstone Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,474,000. Finally, AMG Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,701,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BofA reinstated coverage with a Buy and a $500 price target, highlighting Azure and Copilot as drivers for multiyear upside. BofA Projects 31% Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia unveiled an AI partnership aimed at accelerating nuclear-energy design and operations — a potential new commercial use case that underscores enterprise AI tailwinds. Microsoft, Nvidia Team Up To Build AI-Powered Nuclear Energy Future
• Neutral Sentiment: Leadership and HR changes (including the departure of Microsoft’s diversity chief and a wider HR reorganization) are underway — operationally important but with an unclear near-term impact on revenue. Microsoft’s diversity chief is leaving
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch reports this is MSFT’s worst quarter in 17 years, citing weak near-term trends in cloud and software that may not be quickly fixed — a primary driver of negative sentiment. Microsoft’s stock is having its worst quarter in 17 years
• Negative Sentiment: UBS trimmed its 12‑month price target (from $600 to $510), flagging investor scrutiny on M365 and Copilot monetization — a sign analysts see slower near-term upside even if long‑term views remain constructive. Microsoft price target lowered on M365, Copilot questions
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s investor document lists heavy reliance on Microsoft for financing and compute as a top risk — this disclosure increases perceived counterparty/partner concentration risk. OpenAI Flags Microsoft as ‘Top Risk’
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting Copilot retention/monetization issues and rising AI infrastructure spending suggests the stock will need clearer product traction or margin evidence to resume a sustainable rally. Microsoft Shows “Sense of Urgency,” But MSFT Stock Will Only Rally on This Condition

Microsoft Company Profile

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).