Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 1.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $400.32 and last traded at $393.35. 32,180,517 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 36,994,984 shares. The stock had previously closed at $389.10.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings and Azure growth: Microsoft reported adjusted EPS of $4.74 versus the $4.24 consensus and revenue of $90.01 billion versus expectations of $87.62 billion. Azure revenue grew 43%, ahead of forecasts, and annual Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion. The results helped ease concerns that AI infrastructure spending would pressure returns. Microsoft tops quarterly cloud growth estimates
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization is gaining traction: Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, while the company described rising usage of AI agents and a shift toward consumption-based revenue. A $3.2 billion gain from its Anthropic investment also boosted quarterly results. Why Microsoft shares are trading higher
• Positive Sentiment: Visibility and spending discipline: Commercial remaining performance obligations reached a record $678 billion, up 84% year over year, although roughly one-third may be tied to OpenAI. Management indicated that capital spending remains flexible and forecast approximately $175 billion for calendar 2026, lower than the prior $190 billion projection because of accounting changes. Analysts raised targets, including RBC at $640, Goldman Sachs at $640, and BMO at $515. Microsoft’s backlog reaches $678 billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Concentration and competition risks: The potential dependence on OpenAI for a large portion of the backlog, along with Microsoft’s increasing competition with OpenAI and Anthropic, could create execution and customer-concentration risks despite strong demand.
• Negative Sentiment: Cloud-security and regulatory overhang: Alphabet-owned Wiz disclosed a vulnerability that could have exposed Microsoft cloud customers, while U.K. regulators are investigating Microsoft 365 subscription marketing. Separate investor class-action notices add further reputational and legal risk, though none has materially offset the earnings-driven optimism so far. Wiz reports Microsoft cloud vulnerability

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. China Renaissance lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.64.

Microsoft Trading Up 15.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $396.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $405.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).