Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $650.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price upped by DA Davidson from $600.00 to $650.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q1 2026 earnings at $3.57 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $14.97 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $17.44 EPS.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

MSFT stock opened at $524.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $489.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $434.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.