TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target upped by TD Cowen from $640.00 to $655.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MSFT. Wolfe Research set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.67.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $525.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $513.60 and a 200-day moving average of $485.93. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.