Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Lowered to $600.00 at New Street Research

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price trimmed by New Street Research from $675.00 to $600.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MSFT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $610.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $556.15.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $4.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $412.08. 8,339,032 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,566,785. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $395.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $448.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 53,229 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,704,000 after acquiring an additional 4,757 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Microsoft by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 2,678,207 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $991,392,000 after purchasing an additional 88,757 shares during the period. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 981,646 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $363,376,000 after purchasing an additional 286,267 shares during the last quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC now owns 34,352 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,302 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported a strong Q3: EPS beat and accelerating cloud/AI revenue (Azure ~40% growth; multi?billion AI run?rate), which validates MSFT’s monetization of AI demand and supports longer?term revenue upside. Microsoft cloud growth tops expectations
• Positive Sentiment: The Pentagon reached agreements with leading AI firms including Microsoft — a strategic win that can increase Azure/government workload and adds credibility to MSFT’s enterprise AI positioning. Pentagon?AI deals
• Positive Sentiment: Big hyperscaler AI spending (est. ~$700B for 2026) is a structural tailwind for cloud providers and data?center suppliers — Microsoft stands to benefit via Azure and ecosystem services. Hyperscalers AI spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street reactions are mixed — several firms lifted price targets on better AI/Cloud metrics while others trimmed targets over capex concerns; that divergence increases short?term volatility but keeps a consensus for material long?term upside. Analyst price target moves
• Neutral Sentiment: High covered?call ETF yields on MSFT (e.g., YieldMax’s offering) reflect elevated implied volatility and income strategies from option sellers — important for derivatives flow but not a direct signal on fundamentals. YieldMax covered?call ETF
• Negative Sentiment: Investors focused on Microsoft’s huge AI capex (near?term guide to ~ $190B) and a 49% jump in infrastructure spending — this pressures free cash flow and margins and was the primary reason the stock sold off after the earnings beat. CapEx concerns after earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: MSFT experienced a sharp post?earnings pullback (large market value wiped out in a day), reflecting investor skepticism that the AI investment cadence will convert to near?term free?cash?flow gains. Stock value wiped after earnings
• Negative Sentiment: The reset of the Microsoft–OpenAI relationship (end of exclusivity/amended deal) has created short?term uncertainty about future economics and competitive exposure, which is contributing to cautious analyst commentary. OpenAI exclusivity ended

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).