Raymond James Financial Cuts Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $600.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price trimmed by Raymond James Financial from $630.00 to $600.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.67.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MSFT opened at $517.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.83, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. 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 $513.81 and a 200 day moving average of $487.54.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.