Analysts Set Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT at $618.47

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty-two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $617.4375.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $520.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $511.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $478.67. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second 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 during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.