Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 1.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $513.73 and last traded at $506.06. Approximately 30,930,618 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 37,914,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $499.99.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reportedly plans to unveil its next-generation Maia 300 AI chip as soon as September and may increase production, potentially including an order of more than 300,000 units from TSMC. Investors view the chip as a way to reduce Microsoft’s reliance on Nvidia processors, improve supply flexibility and support Azure’s AI infrastructure expansion. Microsoft plans to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target from $647 to $660, citing sustained AI demand and a measured approach to data-center capacity expansion. The firm’s endorsement reinforces the view that Microsoft’s AI capital spending can generate attractive long-term returns. Microsoft price target raised
• Positive Sentiment: Azure’s reported 43% growth, expanding Copilot adoption and a large cloud backlog are helping support the bullish investment case. Analysts also see potential upside from Microsoft’s role in sovereign AI, healthcare applications and additional compute partnerships. Position Yourself for What’s Next
• Neutral Sentiment: A leaked internal email identifying Blizzard as the top Xbox studio generated some favorable gaming-related attention, but the information is unlikely to materially affect Microsoft’s overall valuation. Blizzard is the top Xbox studio
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary continues to warn that heavy AI infrastructure spending could pressure Microsoft’s margins if cloud demand or monetization fails to keep pace with investment. Microsoft Stock Facing Margin Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: Investor-rights law firms are promoting a securities class action involving purchases made between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The legal announcements may weigh on sentiment, although they do not establish wrongdoing or indicate a material financial impact on Microsoft. Microsoft securities class action deadline

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $528.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.16.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $404.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $406.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockbridge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $11,491,000. Ackerman Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $424,000. Monetta Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $2,238,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,161,418,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,266,394,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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).