Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Jumps 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price traded up 1.5% on Monday. The company traded as high as $532.35 and last traded at $525.18. 25,112,424 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 34,664,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $517.53.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $665. The firm argues that growing corporate concerns about AI risks could increase demand for Microsoft’s security, governance and compliance products, positioning the company as a relatively trusted “adult in charge” of the AI market. Microsoft stock rises as Melius upgrades to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Azure and Copilot remain central to the bull case. Analysts point to strong enterprise adoption, a growing AI backlog and roughly 30 million paid Copilot seats as evidence that Microsoft can monetize AI through its existing cloud and productivity ecosystem. Is Copilot Microsoft’s Secret Weapon in the AI Arms Race?
• Positive Sentiment: Wood Mackenzie launched a connector that brings its proprietary energy data and analytics into Microsoft Copilot, providing another example of third-party enterprise integration. New Xbox and Game Pass releases may also provide a modest near-term gaming catalyst. Wood Mackenzie connects energy intelligence with Microsoft Copilot
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s $678 billion commercial remaining performance obligation offers substantial revenue visibility, but investors still need to assess the timing, customer concentration and cost of fulfilling that backlog. The company’s upcoming fiscal first-quarter report will be important for validating Azure growth, AI demand and margins. How Much Revenue Visibility Does Microsoft’s Backlog Really Provide?
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is reducing internal reliance on Anthropic’s Claude in favor of its own AI tools highlight competitive and execution risks. Amazon’s hiring of a Microsoft AI veteran also underscores intensifying talent competition. Meta and Microsoft scale back internal use of Anthropic’s Claude
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary continues to question whether Microsoft has produced a breakout AI application, while data-center spending, energy requirements and environmental concerns could pressure returns if AI demand does not keep pace.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Melius Research set a $665.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore upgraded shares of Microsoft from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research report on Monday. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $578.73.

Microsoft Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $490.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $430.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. 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 payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Horizons Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $228,000. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,586 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,071,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 969,392 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $497,201,000 after purchasing an additional 34,656 shares during the last quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 84,108 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,198 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.