Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $450.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $400.00 to $450.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the software giant’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would suggest a potential downside of 1.47% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $557.98.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $66.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $456.72. The company had a trading volume of 77,433,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,379,141. The company has a fifty day moving average of $396.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $405.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. 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: Strong earnings beat: Microsoft reported $4.74 in adjusted EPS versus the $4.24 consensus and $90.01 billion in revenue versus estimates of $87.62 billion. Revenue rose 17.7% year over year, while profit increased substantially. Microsoft Beats Wall Street Expectations, With 31% Jump in Profits
• Positive Sentiment: Azure momentum exceeded expectations: Azure revenue grew 43%, ahead of forecasts near 40%, and annual Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. Intelligent Cloud revenue rose 32% to $39.3 billion, reinforcing Microsoft’s position as a leading beneficiary of enterprise AI demand. Microsoft Tops Quarterly Cloud Growth Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization is improving: Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, while management described a shift toward usage-based “per seat plus consumption” revenue. Investors viewed the Azure and Copilot adoption figures as evidence that AI spending is beginning to generate returns. Microsoft Says AI Growth Will Depend on Usage
• Positive Sentiment: Spending concerns eased: Microsoft held its capital-expenditure outlook steady rather than following peers with another increase. Management also said GPU investment can be slowed if demand weakens, while the company expects healthy cash generation. Analysts responded with multiple price-target increases, including BMO’s move to $515 and Goldman Sachs’ move to $640. Microsoft Keeps Capex Forecast Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: The results helped lift broader technology and AI-related stocks, including clean-energy and power companies viewed as suppliers to data-center expansion. This supports sentiment toward Microsoft’s ecosystem but does not directly change Microsoft’s fundamentals. Plug Power Stock Jumps as Microsoft Earnings Spotlight AI Energy Demand
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: Microsoft faces a reported cloud-security flaw that could have exposed customers, a U.K. investigation into Microsoft 365 subscription marketing, and several shareholder securities lawsuits. These issues were overshadowed by the earnings beat but could create regulatory, legal, or reputational costs. Wiz Reports Potential Microsoft Cloud Flaw

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).