Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Rating Upgraded by KeyCorp

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at KeyCorp from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $630.00 target price on the software giant’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.20% from the stock’s previous close. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q1 2026 earnings at $3.66 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.89 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.91 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $18.05 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $21.35 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $25.96 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of MSFT opened at $524.11 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $489.94 and a 200 day moving average of $434.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. PMV Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Seek First Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.