Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty-nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $591.8684.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America cut their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price target (down from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Product/partnership wins that support Azure and Copilot monetization—Microsoft announced integrations and partner expansions that help drive enterprise adoption of Copilot and Fabric, which support long-term revenue growth. What Microsoft (MSFT)’s Lumel-Fabric Integration Means For Shareholders
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture announced a collaboration to embed “agentic” security and resilience into managed detection and response using Microsoft technology—this strengthens enterprise security demand for Azure and security services. Accenture Collaborates with Microsoft to Bring Agentic Security and Business Resilience to the Front Lines of Cyber Defense
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is consolidating its Copilot/AI teams and hiring small AI startups (e.g., Cove team) to accelerate product development—moves aimed at simplifying offerings and catching up on model capabilities. These steps support product focus and future monetization. Microsoft Unifies AI Division To End Copilot Confusion, Boost Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Channel and partner activity continues (Expedience, Insentra, others joining Microsoft programs), which is constructive but incremental for top-line growth. Expedience Software Joins Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program to Deliver Copilot-Powered Proposal Automation in Microsoft Word
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor commentary is mixed: some outlets pitch a buy-the-dip case while others highlight heavy capex and infrastructure costs—this fuels volatility but not an immediate fundamentals shock. Microsoft Stock Has Been Absolutely Slammed This Year. Is It Finally Time to Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: Potential legal conflict with Amazon/OpenAI: reports say Microsoft is weighing legal action over a reported Amazon–OpenAI cloud deal that could undermine Microsoft’s long-held OpenAI exclusivity—this is a major strategic risk to Azure AI differentiation and revenue. US agency asks companies to secure Microsoft tool after Stryker cyberattack
• Negative Sentiment: Security incidents and guidance: a recent medical‑device cyberattack tied to Microsoft endpoint tools prompted U.S. agencies to warn companies to harden those tools; separate reports flag SharePoint as an attack vector—these raise near‑term risk and potential remediation costs. US agency asks companies to secure Microsoft tool after Stryker cyberattack
• Negative Sentiment: Management & product headwinds: leadership reassignments and criticism about product competitiveness (Suleyman reassigned, debate over model quality) add execution uncertainty while investors fret over rising infrastructure costs driving margin pressure. “World-Class Models”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Drops as Suleyman Reassigned

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $389.02 on Friday. Microsoft has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $420.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $473.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

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).