Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 4.9% – Here’s Why

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) were up 4.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $491.65 and last traded at $487.65. Approximately 65,949,546 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 74% from the average daily volume of 37,962,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $464.72.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding consensus estimates of $87.62 billion and $4.24, respectively. Revenue increased 17.7% year over year, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth trajectory.
• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth accelerated to approximately 30%, while cloud revenue reportedly surpassed $100 billion for the fiscal year. Investors view the performance as evidence that demand for AI and cloud services is offsetting concerns about infrastructure costs. Why Microsoft Stock Is Surging Today
• Positive Sentiment: A large cloud backlog—part of an estimated $2.3 trillion backlog across major technology companies—provides visibility for future sales and helps justify continued AI capital expenditures. Microsoft’s data-center lease commitments reportedly exceeded $100 billion in the latest quarter.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators increasingly argue that Microsoft is differentiating itself from other AI stocks by monetizing AI through Azure, Microsoft 365, Copilot and cybersecurity products. Strong margins and a relatively conservative balance sheet also ease concerns about the spending cycle. Microsoft Just Proved That AI Spending Can Pay Off
• Positive Sentiment: The Paychex WISE workforce-intelligence platform is now integrated with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams, adding another business use case for Microsoft’s productivity ecosystem. Paychex Brings WISE Workforce Intelligence to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $646.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, President Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.64.

Microsoft Trading Up 4.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $397.99 and a 200-day moving average of $405.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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).