Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 2.8% – Should You Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price rose 2.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $398.96 and last traded at $395.63. 35,847,445 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 37,525,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $384.93.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft stock rose after CIO survey data showed Azure demand at multi-year highs, supporting the case that cloud growth remains a key strength. Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Surges on Strong Azure Demand in Latest CIO Survey
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a strategic partnership with 3M to deploy Expanded Beam Optical technology in Azure data centers, which could improve infrastructure efficiency and strengthen its AI buildout. 3M and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation
• Positive Sentiment: Citi said Microsoft remains one of the top AI vendors, and Morgan Stanley reiterated a bullish view, signaling that Wall Street still expects strong long-term AI-driven earnings power. Citi Finds Microsoft (MSFT) as One of the Top AI Vendors
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is training sales teams to promote its own AI models and overhauling parts of its cybersecurity business to better compete on cost and security, underscoring an internal push to monetize AI more aggressively. Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts cut price targets ahead of earnings, reflecting caution around AI spending and margins, but most maintained Buy/Outperform ratings and still see upside in MSFT. Citi Just Slashed Its Price Target on Microsoft Stock Ahead of Earnings. Here’s Why.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing ongoing securities-fraud class-action headlines, adding legal overhang and keeping some investors cautious. MSFT Shareholder Alert: August 11, 2026 Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Microsoft Corporation Securities Class Action
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also dealing with broader scrutiny around browser bundling and potential data-center restrictions, which could complicate its AI infrastructure expansion. Microsoft (MSFT) Faces Browser Scrutiny As New York Clouds Data Center Expansion

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Scotiabank upgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven 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 target price of $557.96.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $400.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).