Microsoft’s (MSFT) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $590.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 37.70% from the stock’s current price.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $600.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Redburn Partners set a $450.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $655.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $601.00.

Microsoft Stock Down 11.0%

MSFT traded down $53.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $428.47. 26,402,321 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,422,932. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $477.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.68. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,080 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,359,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,213,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 5,965 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,885,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. now owns 2,894 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 67,000 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,403,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Beat on top and bottom lines — Microsoft delivered stronger-than-expected EPS and revenue, and Microsoft Cloud (Azure + related) topped $50B quarterly, validating demand for AI/cloud services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI/contract backlog lifts future revenue visibility — Microsoft reported a large contracted backlog and meaningful direct OpenAI-related gains, increasing booked future revenue (RPO/backlog). This supports medium-term Azure growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic AI investments and product moves — New Maia 200 AI chip, multiple data-center approvals and AI co?innovation partnerships keep Microsoft positioned competitively in infrastructure and enterprise AI monetization. (Analysts at some shops reiterated/raised targets.) Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst reactions — Some firms trimmed near-term price targets or noted margin pressure, while others raised targets or kept Buy ratings; the net effect is divergent views that can widen intraday moves. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro and sector context — Tech peers (e.g., Meta) showed clearer near-term AI payoff in ad revenue, which accentuated the market’s comparison between AI spending vs. visible monetization. That relative performance is driving rotation within mega-cap tech. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Record capex and AI spending worried investors — Microsoft disclosed very large capital expenditures and data-center spending (reported >$37B capex), raising concerns that heavy near-term investment is outpacing visible revenue/margin improvement. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Slowing Azure growth vs. expectations — Azure/cloud growth decelerated vs. prior quarters (investors wanted acceleration given the spending surge), prompting sell-side and quant repricing and the after?hours pullback. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market punished stock despite beat — Coverage and commentary (Forbes, Bloomberg, CNBC summaries) emphasize that investors now demand clearer, near-term proof that AI investments will translate into faster revenue and margin expansion; that skepticism drove the immediate selloff. Read More.

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).