Microsoft’s (MSFT) Buy Rating Reiterated at Barclays

Barclays restated their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $610.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $625.00.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $500.00 price objective (down previously from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.37.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $456.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,185,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,946,641. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $485.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.16. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

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

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on MSFT, signaling continued analyst confidence in the company’s long-term growth story and supporting investor demand. Barclays Reaffirms Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined licensing deals and partnerships that improve access to training data and AI inputs (e.g., new agreements with Wikipedia), which supports its AI model development and competitive moat. Wikipedia AI Licensing Deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft outlined a “community-first” plan for U.S. AI datacenter buildouts and pledged to mitigate local electricity impacts — a move that reduces regulatory and reputational risk but carries execution and cost considerations. Community-First Plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft struck a record purchase of soil carbon credits to offset rising datacenter emissions; it’s positive for ESG positioning but represents a meaningful near-term cash outlay. Record Soil Carbon Credit Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming fiscal Q2 results on Jan. 28 are a key near-term catalyst — investors are positioning ahead of the report that will provide fresh Azure/AI revenue and margin details. Jan. 28 Catalyst
• Negative Sentiment: Switzerland’s competition authority opened a preliminary probe into Microsoft’s licensing fees, raising antitrust risk and the prospect of regulatory scrutiny that could affect pricing or contract practices in Europe. Swiss Antitrust Probe
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft’s annual spending on Anthropic AI approaches ~$500M have spooked some investors concerned about rising external model costs and margin pressure, even as the investment supports product competitiveness. Anthropic Spending Report
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market dynamics — a rotation away from high-multiple tech names amid interest-rate uncertainty and profit-taking — have put additional selling pressure on MSFT, contributing to today’s weakness. Tech Rotation/Valuation Pressure

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).