Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Upgraded at KeyCorp

KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from a sector weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $630.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q1 2026 earnings at $3.66 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.89 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.91 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $18.05 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $21.35 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $25.96 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MSFT. TD Securities lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

MSFT opened at $524.11 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $489.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $434.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 28,068 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,961,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Corrado Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corrado Advisors LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 13,267 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,599,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Motco grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Motco now owns 57,226 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,530,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fire Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Fire Capital Management LLC now owns 13,628 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,779,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.