Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $710.00 Price Target at Arete

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price raised by Arete from $700.00 to $710.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wedbush upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.63.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $517.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $512.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $466.63. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction 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 approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 grew its holdings in shares of 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. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by 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.