Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $635.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $660.00 to $635.00 in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the software giant’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 47.99% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $601.00.

Microsoft Stock Down 10.9%

MSFT traded down $52.56 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $429.07. 26,402,321 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,422,932. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $477.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $500.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.19, a PEG 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Beat on top and bottom lines — Microsoft delivered stronger-than-expected EPS and revenue, and Microsoft Cloud (Azure + related) topped $50B quarterly, validating demand for AI/cloud services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI/contract backlog lifts future revenue visibility — Microsoft reported a large contracted backlog and meaningful direct OpenAI-related gains, increasing booked future revenue (RPO/backlog). This supports medium-term Azure growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic AI investments and product moves — New Maia 200 AI chip, multiple data-center approvals and AI co?innovation partnerships keep Microsoft positioned competitively in infrastructure and enterprise AI monetization. (Analysts at some shops reiterated/raised targets.) Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst reactions — Some firms trimmed near-term price targets or noted margin pressure, while others raised targets or kept Buy ratings; the net effect is divergent views that can widen intraday moves. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro and sector context — Tech peers (e.g., Meta) showed clearer near-term AI payoff in ad revenue, which accentuated the market’s comparison between AI spending vs. visible monetization. That relative performance is driving rotation within mega-cap tech. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Record capex and AI spending worried investors — Microsoft disclosed very large capital expenditures and data-center spending (reported >$37B capex), raising concerns that heavy near-term investment is outpacing visible revenue/margin improvement. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Slowing Azure growth vs. expectations — Azure/cloud growth decelerated vs. prior quarters (investors wanted acceleration given the spending surge), prompting sell-side and quant repricing and the after?hours pullback. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market punished stock despite beat — Coverage and commentary (Forbes, Bloomberg, CNBC summaries) emphasize that investors now demand clearer, near-term proof that AI investments will translate into faster revenue and margin expansion; that skepticism drove the immediate selloff. Read More.

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).