Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $541.13 and last traded at $539.44. Approximately 22,495,467 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 34,097,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $533.69.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its Microsoft price target to $675 from $525 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth, AI demand and a valuation it considers reasonable relative to expected 2027 earnings. UBS raises Microsoft price target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms lifted their targets, with analysts expecting Azure growth and Copilot adoption to support a potentially larger-than-normal earnings beat. Microsoft’s reported 30 million Copilot seats and Azure momentum are key focal points before earnings. Why Microsoft stock is rising
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Maia 300 custom AI chip could improve Azure inference economics and reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD hardware. The chip is designed for large-scale deployment and is reportedly capable of processing more tokens per megawatt than conventional GPUs. Microsoft Maia 300 AI chip
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure organization is reportedly pursuing at least 20% cost reductions to offset heavy AI data-center spending. The effort could protect margins, but it also underscores the financial pressure created by the company’s aggressive infrastructure buildout. Microsoft weighs Azure cost cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI stocks remained under pressure as hotter inflation pushed yields higher, raising concerns about valuation multiples and the financing cost of AI infrastructure.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Amy Hood sold approximately $4 million of Microsoft shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale represents only 1.3% of her holdings, limiting its significance, but it may add modest caution after the stock’s strong rally. SEC insider transaction filing

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.71.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

The firm has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $504.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $438.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Montgomery Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.