Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price rose 1.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $401.19 and last traded at $398.55. Approximately 32,513,341 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 37,920,012 shares. The stock had previously closed at $392.74.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: RBC reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on Microsoft, which can underpin demand from institutional and retail investors. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic product & partnership news: Microsoft reshuffled gaming leadership and announced a Starlink partnership to expand Azure reach to remote regions, reinforcing growth avenues for Azure and gaming. These moves support long-term cloud and platform revenue. Microsoft Reshapes Gaming And Azure Reach
• Positive Sentiment: AI spending tailwinds: Research and commentary note higher enterprise software spending driven by AI, which benefits Microsoft’s cloud and Copilot products and supports revenue growth expectations. Fool: Enterprises Spending More on Software
• Neutral Sentiment: Options & technical activity: Options traders have stepped in as MSFT “tests two key levels,” which increases intraday volatility and could amplify moves in either direction depending on which technical level breaks. Technical analysis also flags strong ranking versus key resistance—watch those levels for near-term direction. Schaeffers: Microsoft Stock Testing 2 Key Levels Benzinga Technical Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market tailwind: Broader market commentary suggests U.S. equities may be primed for a rally in March, which can lift mega-cap tech stocks like Microsoft along with general risk-on flows. Zacks: March Momentum
• Negative Sentiment: Recent share weakness: MSFT has been down since earnings (coverage notes ~7% drop since the report), suggesting investors remain cautious on near-term execution/valuation despite solid results—this caps upside until confidence improves. Yahoo: MSFT Down 7.3% Since Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Product/PR friction: A “furor” around the Copilot Discord has required company firefighting, raising short-term reputational and operational risks for flagship AI products. TipRanks: Copilot Discord Furor
• Negative Sentiment: Infrastructure constraints: Coverage highlights a growing electrician shortage that could slow data-center buildouts and increase costs—a potential drag on rapid capacity expansion for AI workloads. Fortune: Electrician Shortage Threat

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, New Street Research increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5%

The company has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $443.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $483.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Company Profile

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).