Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $513.73 and last traded at $506.06. Approximately 30,930,618 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 37,914,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $499.99.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reportedly plans to unveil its next-generation Maia 300 AI chip as soon as September and may increase production, potentially including an order of more than 300,000 units from TSMC. Investors view the chip as a way to reduce Microsoft’s reliance on Nvidia processors, improve supply flexibility and support Azure’s AI infrastructure expansion. Microsoft plans to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target from $647 to $660, citing sustained AI demand and a measured approach to data-center capacity expansion. The firm’s endorsement reinforces the view that Microsoft’s AI capital spending can generate attractive long-term returns. Microsoft price target raised
• Positive Sentiment: Azure’s reported 43% growth, expanding Copilot adoption and a large cloud backlog are helping support the bullish investment case. Analysts also see potential upside from Microsoft’s role in sovereign AI, healthcare applications and additional compute partnerships. Position Yourself for What’s Next
• Neutral Sentiment: A leaked internal email identifying Blizzard as the top Xbox studio generated some favorable gaming-related attention, but the information is unlikely to materially affect Microsoft’s overall valuation. Blizzard is the top Xbox studio
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary continues to warn that heavy AI infrastructure spending could pressure Microsoft’s margins if cloud demand or monetization fails to keep pace with investment. Microsoft Stock Facing Margin Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: Investor-rights law firms are promoting a securities class action involving purchases made between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The legal announcements may weigh on sentiment, although they do not establish wrongdoing or indicate a material financial impact on Microsoft. Microsoft securities class action deadline

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. HSBC dropped their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities lowered Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.16.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $404.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $406.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,624,690,000 after acquiring an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).