DZ Bank Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at DZ Bank in a note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Wedbush lowered their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $597.73.

Microsoft Trading Down 10.0%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $433.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $476.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $500.21. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 33.48%. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.6% during the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,816,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $457,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,382 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.3% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,700,000 after buying an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft beat Wall Street on top and bottom lines — EPS $4.14 and revenue $81.27B, showing continued cloud- and AI-driven revenue growth. Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial backlog (RPO) surged — companies report a very large contracted backlog (reported at ~$625B), signaling strong demand for Azure and AI services over coming years. Demand backlog doubles to $625B
• Positive Sentiment: New customer wins for Azure AI capacity — reports that Perplexity signed a multi-year cloud deal with Microsoft (reported at ~$750M) reinforce Azure demand and ecosystem monetization. Perplexity signs $750M deal with Microsoft
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reaction is mixed — many firms reaffirm “buy/overweight” but trimmed price targets; the Street remains broadly positive on the long-term AI thesis while re-pricing near-term expectations. Analysts slash forecasts after Q2
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/tech progress continues — Microsoft announced its Maia 200 AI accelerator and reiterated use of both in‑house and third‑party chips, a strategic signal for vertical integration even as it still buys GPUs. Microsoft launches Maia 200
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy AI capex and slower Azure growth spooked investors — Microsoft reported ~$37.5B in capex and guided to slightly lower sequential Azure growth, prompting a sharp selloff as traders question near-term returns on massive infrastructure spending. Why Microsoft tumbled 10%
• Negative Sentiment: Market impact and sentiment shock — the earnings reaction triggered sector-wide selling, software ETFs fell and MSFT’s market cap dropped materially, increasing volatility and re-rating near-term multiples. Software ETFs sink as MSFT stumbles
• Negative Sentiment: Investor litigation and scrutiny — law firms have announced investigations and outreach to investors, a sign of heightened legal/regulatory attention after the volatile reaction. Investor investigations announced

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).