Rothschild Redb Downgrades Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to Hold

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Rothschild Redb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Mizuho set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.33.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $487.12 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $514.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $498.25. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.