Microsoft’s (MSFT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Truist Financial in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $575.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective points to a potential upside of 47.89% from the company’s previous close.

MSFT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Argus dropped their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Dbs Bank dropped their price target on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Forty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.37.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $8.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $388.80. 10,255,665 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,125,207. The company’s 50-day moving average is $399.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $409.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its strategic partnership with Mistral AI, committing to support the French startup’s European AI infrastructure and broader distribution through Microsoft’s cloud platform. The deal reinforces Microsoft’s AI ambitions in Europe and could help drive future Azure and enterprise AI demand. Reuters: Microsoft to fund Mistral’s European AI expansion in multibillion-dollar deal
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with Morgan Stanley reiterating a positive view and setting a $600 price target, while CLSA also upgraded the stock. Analysts continue to see Microsoft as a key AI and cloud winner with substantial long-term upside. Finbold: Wall Street analyst updates Microsoft stock price target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is also being linked to broader federal AI and data-center initiatives, including support for AI infrastructure efforts and partnerships that highlight its central role in the AI buildout. That keeps the company in the middle of major spending themes investors are tracking. TipRanks: Microsoft expands support for Trump’s $5B AI for Science push
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft reports fiscal Q4 earnings on July 29, and investors are focused on Azure growth, AI spending, Copilot adoption, and forward guidance. Expectations are high, but the setup is mixed, so the report could be a major stock mover in either direction. Zacks: Microsoft reports next week
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is facing several securities class-action lawsuits tied to alleged disclosures around Copilot and AI claims. While these filings do not change fundamentals immediately, they add headline risk and may weigh on sentiment until the legal situation becomes clearer. PR Newswire: MSFT shareholder alert class action lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage points to lingering concerns about Microsoft’s AI execution, including whether Copilot is growing fast enough to justify the company’s heavy spending. That skepticism appears to be contributing to pressure on the shares despite the broader AI optimism. TipRanks: Microsoft stock slips after pledging billions to fund Mistral’s AI buildout

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).