Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives “Buy” Rating from DZ Bank

DZ Bank reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.67.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.9%

MSFT opened at $525.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $513.60 and a 200-day moving average of $485.93.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. BLVD Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. PMV Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Seek First Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.