Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares traded up 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $501.47 and last traded at $497.75. Approximately 17,640,631 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 35,307,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $490.30.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure expands into payment security: Microsoft is turning cloud-managed security for payment infrastructure into a service, potentially opening a sizable enterprise market and creating another source of Azure consumption. Pricing and customer commitments have not been disclosed. Microsoft Jumps as Azure Turns Payment Vaults Into a Service
• Positive Sentiment: Telecom AI partnership expands: Nokia and Microsoft are extending their collaboration around Microsoft Fabric, unified data and agentic network automation. The offering targets fault detection, predictive maintenance and autonomous telecom operations, supporting demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI tools. Nokia accelerates network automation through agentic data foundation with Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Copilot gains specialized functionality: Causaly’s scientific research platform is now available within Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 and Teams, strengthening Copilot’s appeal to life-sciences research organizations. Causaly is Now Available in Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: AI ecosystem investment: Microsoft’s venture arm participated in a more than $20 million funding round for ManticAI, an AI startup focused on predicting global events. The investment offers potential strategic exposure to another AI application area, though its direct financial impact is likely limited. Microsoft fund backs British AI predictions start-up Mantic
• Neutral Sentiment: AI usage is shifting toward agents: Mintlify reports that AI agents have become the primary readers of company documentation and are increasingly writing it. The trend supports Microsoft’s agentic-AI strategy, but the report is third-party industry evidence rather than new Microsoft financial guidance. Mintlify’s 2026 State of Knowledge Report
• Negative Sentiment: Spending and valuation remain risks: Microsoft’s substantial data-center and AI investment must continue translating into Azure revenue and profits. Commentary also questions whether the stock’s valuation already reflects much of the AI opportunity. What Happens To Microsoft Stock If Its AI Spending Keeps Climbing?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale adds a modest overhang: EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares worth roughly $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the transaction reduces its significance as an outlook signal. Microsoft EVP insider sale

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Argus lowered their target price 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. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $564.27.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $462.53 and a 200 day moving average of $421.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $85,604,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $199,014,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 8.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $502,077,000 after acquiring an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.