Barclays Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Jeff Wilder on Jan 15th, 2026

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Barclays in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Melius Research lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $630.37.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $2.72 during trading on Monday, hitting $456.66. 23,141,778 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,941,650. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $503.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.07. 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 – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Azure and enterprise AI momentum: analysts and industry reports highlight that Microsoft’s Azure multi-model infrastructure, frontier-model access, and strong cloud backlog should drive revenue growth and further AI adoption across customers. Will MSFT Stock Climb as Azure AI Services Gain Traction?
Positive Sentiment: Investor/analyst backing and product traction: surveys and bank views (e.g., Morgan Stanley, KeyBanc coverage) continue to favor MSFT as a primary AI/cloud winner — a bullish narrative that supports upside into upcoming earnings (Jan. 28). Microsoft: CIO Survey Highlights Unmatched Cloud and Generative AI Leadership
Neutral Sentiment: Content/licensing access for AI: Wikimedia Foundation signed licensing deals with Microsoft and other tech firms, reducing content risk for AI training and potentially smoothing model development costs and legal exposure. Wikipedia owner signs Microsoft, Meta in AI content training deals
Neutral Sentiment: Environmental and community steps: Microsoft struck a record soil carbon credit deal and unveiled a “community‑first” plan for U.S. AI data centers — moves that reduce political/regulatory friction but add near-term cash outlays. Microsoft in record deal for soil carbon credits as data centres surge Microsoft Unveils “Community-First” Plan for U.S. AI Data Center Buildout
Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: Switzerland’s competition authority opened a preliminary probe into Microsoft’s licensing fees for Microsoft 365 after complaints about price hikes — a headline that raises antitrust risk and potential remediation costs. Swiss competition authority opens probe into Microsoft licensing fees
Negative Sentiment: Rising AI partner costs: reports that Microsoft’s annual spending on Anthropic model access approaches $500M raise investor concerns about margins and the cash intensity of securing multiple model suppliers. Microsoft’s Anthropic Spend Nears $500 Million
Negative Sentiment: Market sentiment and technical pressure: headlines about selling pressure, six-/seven‑month lows and the stock trading below key moving averages have accelerated outflows and amplified declines despite the fundamental AI story. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Hits Six-Month Low as AI Trade Loses Steam

Microsoft Company Profile

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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).