Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Buy Rating at Guggenheim

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Guggenheim in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $586.00 target price on the software giant’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 30.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Microsoft from $675.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $620.79.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $449.06 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $501.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after buying an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large brand & technology deal with Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 — Microsoft will integrate Azure and AI tools with the team in a multi?year sponsorship, a visible commercial showcase that supports enterprise AI positioning and marketing momentum. Mercedes reveal images of 2026 F1 car, announce Microsoft deal
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. defense contract: Microsoft won a $170.44M Air Force Cloud One task order for Azure services through Dec. 2028 — small relative to MSFT’s scale but a recurring win that validates Azure in government cloud. Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Air Force Awards $170 Million Cloud One Contract
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains mixed but not uniformly negative: some firms trimmed targets yet kept Buy ratings (TD Cowen, Citigroup, Goldman maintained a high PT), leaving analyst coverage a mix of supportive and cautious views ahead of earnings. All Eyes on Microsoft Stock Ahead of Earnings Next Week; Here’s What Wall Street Expects
• Neutral Sentiment: Market is focused on the Jan. 28 earnings date — expectations are high for AI/cloud growth but the report is a near?term catalyst that could increase volatility. Dear Microsoft Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for January 28
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and lower price targets are hitting sentiment — some outlets and firms are flagging downside scenarios and trimming targets, which amplifies selling pressure amid already weaker tape. Microsoft Stock To $350?
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn cut its target and moved to Neutral — another explicit downgrade that can prompt short?term outflows from model/quant strategies. Rothschild & Co Redburn adjusts price target on Microsoft to 450
• Negative Sentiment: Broader investor caution on AI spending and bubble talk: CEO comments and wider debate about energy costs, data?center capacity and whether AI investment scales beyond Big Tech are weighing on confidence in further near?term multiple expansion. Satya Nadella’s biggest AI bubble warning yet
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional moves and share supply: reports of a hedge fund trimming MSFT exposure and Microsoft (and partners) selling shares in PhonePe’s IPO add marginal selling pressure and headline noise. Cypress Funds LLC Cuts Microsoft Stake

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).