Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price shot up 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $452.84 and last traded at $450.9280. 24,981,722 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 25,867,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $444.11.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large government win: reports that Microsoft landed a sizable U.S. Air Force/Azure cloud contract — a revenue and credibility positive for Azure and defense/cloud backlog. Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Air Force Awards $170 Million Cloud One Contract
• Positive Sentiment: Brand/AI visibility boost from sports partnership: Microsoft struck a major multi‑year sponsorship and technical partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team — marketing and product‑showcase value for Azure/AI. Mercedes reveal images of 2026 F1 car, announce Microsoft deal
• Positive Sentiment: Short-term catalyst: Xbox Developer_Direct presentation lifted sentiment around gaming and consumer engagement, supporting near‑term share demand. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Gains Alongside the Xbox Developer_Direct 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst support is mixed: several firms reaffirm buys or maintain overweight ratings (Guggenheim, Jefferies, Wells Fargo), keeping upside scenarios alive even as some targets were trimmed. This provides a cushion but not uniform conviction. Analyst coverage notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor moves: activist/hedge interest — Third Point reportedly increased stakes in Microsoft, signaling conviction from a large investor in AI/cloud exposure. Billionaire Investor Doubles Down On AI, Boosts Stakes In Microsoft And Meta Despite 2025 Tech Volatility
• Negative Sentiment: Productivity outage: a Microsoft 365/Outlook outage affected thousands of users (email, files, meetings) — operational disruptions can dent enterprise confidence and raise near‑term churn/SLAs concerns. Microsoft 365 hit by outage, preventing access to emails and files
• Negative Sentiment: Margin and guidance worries: analysts and commentators warn that cloud/AI margins are the “tripwire” into Q2 — elevated power and data‑center costs plus capacity constraints could pressure margins and force conservative guidance. Microsoft: Cloud Margins Are The Tripwire Heading Into FQ2 Earnings (Downgrade)
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/near-term weakness: market commentary notes MSFT has been in a multi‑month slide and faces technical bearish patterns ahead of earnings, increasing volatility risk into the report. Microsoft Slumps Heading Into Earnings—Here’s What Matters Most

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $620.79.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $480.62 and a 200 day moving average of $501.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,816,000 after buying an additional 2,373 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,499,000 after buying an additional 2,247 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).