Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Rating Upgraded by CLSA

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was upgraded by equities researchers at CLSA to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Scotiabank raised shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $556.37.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.1%

Microsoft stock opened at $397.75 on Monday. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $399.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $409.57.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Madson Wealth Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Madson Wealth Advisors Inc now owns 3,968 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the second quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 5,976 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.6% during the second quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 37,750 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674 shares during the last quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 3.6% in the second quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flywheel Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Flywheel Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its strategic partnership with Mistral AI to strengthen Europe-focused AI infrastructure and bring Mistral models deeper into Microsoft’s cloud and AI platforms, reinforcing its long-term AI growth story. Reuters article on Microsoft funding Mistral’s European AI expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley turned constructive on Microsoft, saying sentiment on software stocks has become too negative and assigning MSFT an Overweight rating with a $600 price target. Investopedia article on Morgan Stanley software picks
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators say Microsoft could be undervalued heading into earnings, with several pieces arguing the stock may be a bargain if Azure growth and AI execution improve. TipRanks article on Microsoft as a bargain ahead of earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is scheduled to report fiscal Q4 results on July 29, and investors are focusing on Azure growth, AI spending, and Copilot adoption as the key questions for the call. Proactive Investors article on Microsoft earnings and Azure growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded AI deal with AMD also supports the bull case for Azure infrastructure, but it underscores that Microsoft is still spending heavily to secure future AI capacity rather than immediately harvesting profits. Proactive Investors article on Microsoft expanding AMD partnership
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued fresh class-action reminders tied to Microsoft’s alleged AI misstatements, keeping legal risk in the spotlight and adding pressure on sentiment. Pomerantz class-action alert for Microsoft investors
• Negative Sentiment: Headlines about a securities fraud lawsuit and allegations that Microsoft overstated Copilot functionality may weigh on the stock by reinforcing concerns around AI execution and disclosure. PR Newswire lawsuit notice on Microsoft Copilot functionality

About Microsoft

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).