Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $612.5357.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of MSFT opened at $506.69 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $508.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $447.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.