Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Earns Buy Rating from DA Davidson

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at DA Davidson in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $550.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.26% from the company’s current price.

MSFT has been the topic of several other research reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $625.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Argus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.76.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $55.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $446.22. 58,732,050 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,205,906. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $396.43 and a 200 day moving average of $405.74. Microsoft has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings beat: Microsoft reported $4.74 in adjusted EPS versus the $4.24 consensus and $90.01 billion in revenue versus estimates of $87.62 billion. Revenue rose 17.7% year over year, while profit increased substantially. Microsoft Beats Wall Street Expectations, With 31% Jump in Profits
• Positive Sentiment: Azure momentum exceeded expectations: Azure revenue grew 43%, ahead of forecasts near 40%, and annual Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. Intelligent Cloud revenue rose 32% to $39.3 billion, reinforcing Microsoft’s position as a leading beneficiary of enterprise AI demand. Microsoft Tops Quarterly Cloud Growth Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization is improving: Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, while management described a shift toward usage-based “per seat plus consumption” revenue. Investors viewed the Azure and Copilot adoption figures as evidence that AI spending is beginning to generate returns. Microsoft Says AI Growth Will Depend on Usage
• Positive Sentiment: Spending concerns eased: Microsoft held its capital-expenditure outlook steady rather than following peers with another increase. Management also said GPU investment can be slowed if demand weakens, while the company expects healthy cash generation. Analysts responded with multiple price-target increases, including BMO’s move to $515 and Goldman Sachs’ move to $640. Microsoft Keeps Capex Forecast Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: The results helped lift broader technology and AI-related stocks, including clean-energy and power companies viewed as suppliers to data-center expansion. This supports sentiment toward Microsoft’s ecosystem but does not directly change Microsoft’s fundamentals. Plug Power Stock Jumps as Microsoft Earnings Spotlight AI Energy Demand
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: Microsoft faces a reported cloud-security flaw that could have exposed customers, a U.K. investigation into Microsoft 365 subscription marketing, and several shareholder securities lawsuits. These issues were overshadowed by the earnings beat but could create regulatory, legal, or reputational costs. Wiz Reports Potential Microsoft Cloud Flaw

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).