Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $625.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective decreased by TD Cowen from $655.00 to $625.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho cut shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $629.46.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $454.52 on Tuesday. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $481.96 and a 200 day moving average of $502.15. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $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 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bristol Myers Squibb partners with Microsoft to deploy AI imaging tools to accelerate early lung‑cancer detection — strengthens MSFT’s healthcare AI revenue pipeline and commercial credibility. Bristol Myers partners with Microsoft for AI-driven lung cancer detection
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI (Microsoft‑backed) reportedly hit ~$20B revenue in 2025 — a direct upside to Microsoft’s AI exposure through cloud compute, licensing and partnership arrangements. Microsoft‑Backed OpenAI Hits $20B Revenue Target in 2025
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing to cut data‑center energy use and Nadella warns energy costs will decide the AI race — could reduce future operating/AI infra costs and support margins if successfully executed. Microsoft Wants to Lower Data Center Energy Use. Does That Help the Bull Case for MSFT Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen trimmed its price target (from $655 to $625) but kept a Buy — signals continued long‑term conviction but acknowledges nearer‑term valuation/nearterm risk. TD Cowen adjusts price target on Microsoft to $625 from $655, maintains buy rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft Marketplace gains incremental ecosystem wins (Cobalt Teams integration)—small revenue/engagement boost but limited immediate stock impact. Cobalt Microsoft® Teams® Integration Now Available in the Microsoft Marketplace®
• Neutral Sentiment: Jan. 28 earnings is the next major catalyst — investors will focus on Azure growth, AI-related capex and guidance. Dear Microsoft Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for January 28
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Azure cloud growth and forward guidance fell short of expectations have pressured the stock — investors are sensitive to any signs of decelerating cloud revenue or rising AI‑related costs. Microsoft (MSFT) Traded Lower as Its Reported Azure Cloud Growth and Forward Guidance Fell Short of Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft researchers published a list of jobs most exposed to AI, and related headlines have contributed to short‑term investor and public sentiment concerns — this helped headlines driving intraday weakness. Microsoft researchers have revealed the 40 jobs most exposed to AI—and even teachers make the list
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market/geo‑political headlines and a tech sector selloff (Magnificent Seven weakness) amplified pressure on MSFT today — macro risk is dragging even well‑funded AI leaders. America’s Biggest Tech Stocks Lead Tuesday’s Selloff as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Rattles Markets

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).