Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given “Buy” Rating at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.33.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $487.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $514.09 and its 200 day moving average is $498.25.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second 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 period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.