Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 1.5% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares were up 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $501.47 and last traded at $497.75. Approximately 17,640,631 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 35,307,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $490.30.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure and AI businesses remain the primary bullish catalysts. Analysts point to accelerating cloud growth, broad enterprise adoption and Microsoft’s distribution advantage through Azure, Microsoft 365 and Copilot. These Magnificent Seven Members Still Look Cheap
• Positive Sentiment: Causaly expanded its collaboration with Microsoft, making its agentic scientific-research tools available within Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 and Teams. The deal supports Microsoft’s strategy of adding specialized AI workflows to its enterprise software ecosystem. Causaly is Now Available in Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s 8% quarterly dividend increase reinforces its strong cash generation and provides shareholder support, although the company continues to invest heavily in cloud and AI infrastructure. Microsoft Slips as Its Quarterly Dividend Climbs 8%
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman called recent reports of concerning model behavior at OpenAI a “serious situation” and emphasized the need for controllable, human-aligned AI. The comments highlight Microsoft’s safety focus but also underscore reputational and product-liability risks across the sector. OpenAI’s latest AI revelation is a serious situation
• Negative Sentiment: Unsealed filings reportedly include Microsoft and OpenAI employees’ concerns that AI training on millions of news articles could amount to the “largest theft of labor in human history.” The disclosures may weaken the companies’ fair-use defense and increase potential litigation, licensing and regulatory costs. OpenAI, Microsoft executives’ quotes on AI training threaten copyright defense
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of insider selling added to near-term sentiment pressure, while Microsoft faces competitive challenges from Salesforce’s AIforce and ongoing debate over whether its substantial AI spending will generate adequate returns. Microsoft Trading Down After Insider Selling

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $528.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $564.27.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $466.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $85,604,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 8.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% during the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $502,077,000 after purchasing an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.