Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 2.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on the stock from $632.00 to $659.00. BNP Paribas Exane currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $482.87 and last traded at $480.58. 29,087,472 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 27,036,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $470.28.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $612.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Microsoft News Summary

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Davis Rea LTD. grew its stake in Microsoft by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Davis Rea LTD. now owns 44,294 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,421,000 after buying an additional 4,892 shares during the last quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 10,034 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the period. Cora Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,194 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,447,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 54,196 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $26,210,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Libra Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Libra Wealth LLC now owns 11,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,353,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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 company’s 50-day moving average is $477.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $500.68. The stock has a market capitalization 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

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).