Jefferies Financial Group Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Arete lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.05.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $493.79 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $514.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $498.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. 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.