Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 1.4% Higher – What’s Next?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price traded up 1.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $492.63 and last traded at $492.12. 14,382,817 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 22,157,650 shares. The stock had previously closed at $485.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.33.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $499.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Real Talk Capital LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $457,119,000 after acquiring an additional 33,382 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $54,376,000 after acquiring an additional 40,860 shares in the last quarter. Well Done LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.9% in the second quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,930,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,210 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,042,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.