Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.8% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price shot up 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $506.85 and last traded at $506.00. 26,043,631 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 19% from the average session volume of 21,934,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $496.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Arete increased their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $513.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $493.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 192,555 shares of company stock valued at $97,840,842. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% during the third quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 40,226 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,746 shares during the period. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,844 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,027,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 104,057 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $53,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Investments LLC now owns 18,686 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,883 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,047,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.