Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Lowered to $660.00 at Citigroup

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Melius Research lifted their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $624.05.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.3%

MSFT stock opened at $444.11 on Wednesday. Microsoft has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $480.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $501.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,816,000 after buying an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 14.0% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.3% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major industry and healthcare partnerships bolster MSFT’s commercial AI narrative — Bristol Myers Squibb will use Microsoft’s AI radiology tools to speed lung cancer detection, a commercial validation for Azure/AI revenue mix. Bristol Myers partners with Microsoft for AI-driven lung cancer detection
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise product integration: Board announced Board Agents built on Microsoft Foundry, signaling more platform-level demand for Azure agentic AI services. Board Collaborates with Microsoft to Bring Agentic AI Into the Core of Enterprise Planning
• Positive Sentiment: Marketplace and ISV ecosystem wins continue to expand commercial reach (Cobalt Teams integration, RKON Marketplace activity), supporting recurring revenue and GTM leverage. Cobalt Microsoft® Teams® Integration Now Available in the Microsoft Marketplace®
• Positive Sentiment: Top analysts still see long-term upside — Goldman Sachs reiterated Buy and keeps a high price target, reflecting belief that AI + cloud growth offsets higher power/capex. Microsoft: Maintaining a Buy Rating as AI and Cloud Growth Offset Structurally Higher Power Costs
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen trimmed its price target (from $655 to $625) but kept a Buy rating, noting Azure capacity constraints that may keep the stock range-bound before earnings. TD Cowen Sees Microsoft (MSFT) Shares Range-Bound Ahead of Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on MSFT’s upcoming earnings report on Jan. 28 — expectations are elevated, so results and commentary on Azure capacity/costs will likely drive near-term volatility. Dear Microsoft Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for January 28
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades/price-target cuts are weighing on sentiment — Rothschild & Co Redburn cut its PT to $450 and moved to Neutral, tightening near-term upside assumptions. Rothschild & Co Redburn adjusts price target on Microsoft to 450 from 500, maintains neutral rating
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella’s public warnings that AI could “lose social permission” if it burns energy without real-world benefits have raised regulatory/PR risk and highlighted rising energy/capex pressures for hyperscalers. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Warns AI Could Lose ‘Social Permission’ If It Burns Energy Without Real-World Benefits In Health And Education
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Azure growth and forward guidance previously fell short of expectations — plus capacity constraints — are pressuring near-term growth multiple assumptions. Microsoft (MSFT) Traded Lower as Its Reported Azure Cloud Growth and Forward Guidance Fell Short of Expectations

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).