Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 1.5% – What’s Next?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $393.65 and last traded at $390.99. 28,748,430 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 37,556,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $385.10.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding enterprise AI deployments, reinforcing demand for its AI and cloud ecosystem and supporting the long-term growth narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of Microsoft being a customer for new AI data-center infrastructure in Finland highlight continued investment in AI capacity and cloud expansion.
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators still view Microsoft as attractively valued relative to its AI growth prospects ahead of its upcoming earnings report.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional share changes were mixed, with one fund adding to MSFT while another trimmed its position, suggesting no clear consensus shift.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces a securities fraud class action tied to alleged Copilot disclosures, creating legal and reputational overhang.
• Negative Sentiment: Job cuts and restructuring in the Xbox/gaming business may raise concerns about cost pressures and slowing parts of the business.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing market concern that AI spending is getting too expensive is weighing on Microsoft and other cloud leaders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho set a $490.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.73.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $401.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.68. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $2,616,000. PMG Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $828,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2,332.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,262,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,468,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its position in Microsoft by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 272,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $131,750,000 after purchasing an additional 49,371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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).