Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $635.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $660.00 to $635.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the software giant’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 47.99% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $601.00.

Microsoft Trading Down 10.9%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $52.56 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $429.07. 26,402,321 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,422,932. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $477.57 and its 200-day moving average is $500.68.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Beat on top and bottom lines — Microsoft delivered stronger-than-expected EPS and revenue, and Microsoft Cloud (Azure + related) topped $50B quarterly, validating demand for AI/cloud services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI/contract backlog lifts future revenue visibility — Microsoft reported a large contracted backlog and meaningful direct OpenAI-related gains, increasing booked future revenue (RPO/backlog). This supports medium-term Azure growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic AI investments and product moves — New Maia 200 AI chip, multiple data-center approvals and AI co‑innovation partnerships keep Microsoft positioned competitively in infrastructure and enterprise AI monetization. (Analysts at some shops reiterated/raised targets.) Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst reactions — Some firms trimmed near-term price targets or noted margin pressure, while others raised targets or kept Buy ratings; the net effect is divergent views that can widen intraday moves. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro and sector context — Tech peers (e.g., Meta) showed clearer near-term AI payoff in ad revenue, which accentuated the market’s comparison between AI spending vs. visible monetization. That relative performance is driving rotation within mega-cap tech. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Record capex and AI spending worried investors — Microsoft disclosed very large capital expenditures and data-center spending (reported >$37B capex), raising concerns that heavy near-term investment is outpacing visible revenue/margin improvement. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Slowing Azure growth vs. expectations — Azure/cloud growth decelerated vs. prior quarters (investors wanted acceleration given the spending surge), prompting sell-side and quant repricing and the after‑hours pullback. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market punished stock despite beat — Coverage and commentary (Forbes, Bloomberg, CNBC summaries) emphasize that investors now demand clearer, near-term proof that AI investments will translate into faster revenue and margin expansion; that skepticism drove the immediate selloff. Read More.

Microsoft Company Profile

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).