Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen raised Microsoft’s price target to $650 from $625 while maintaining a “Buy” rating, implying approximately 24% upside. The broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with a target price of $607.93.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue rising 18.8% year over year to $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89. Azure growth accelerated 48%, highlighting strong demand for cloud and AI services.
• Despite institutional support and strong fundamentals, Microsoft faces scrutiny over heavy AI investment, including a planned bond sale to fund infrastructure, delayed chip capacity, and significant revenue concentration from OpenAI.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $625.00 to $650.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. TD Cowen's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 24.16% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MSFT. Evercore upgraded shares of Microsoft from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Scotiabank set a $650.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Microsoft from $608.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $610.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Forty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $607.93.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $7.50 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $523.51. 19,687,711 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,390,289. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $551.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $511.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $437.96.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.71 by $0.18. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 19.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 315,653,206 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $117,744,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,944,917 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 64,375,360 shares of the software giant's stock worth $24,013,297,000 after purchasing an additional 543,172 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $18,306,443,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 46,694,778 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,418,076,000 after purchasing an additional 5,019,702 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft exceeded expectations with fiscal first-quarter revenue of $92.28 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.89, compared with estimates of $90.62 billion and $4.71. Revenue increased 18.8% year over year. Microsoft earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth accelerated 48% to approximately $33.2 billion, while Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30% to $63.9 billion. The results suggest enterprise AI demand is converting into meaningful cloud revenue, helping the company outperform Alphabet in investor sentiment. Azure revenue growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets, including Cantor Fitzgerald to $630, Piper Sandler to $650 and Bank of America to $630, citing Azure momentum, AI adoption and Microsoft’s strong cash generation. Microsoft analyst price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft reportedly plans to raise at least $25 billion in bonds, its first major U.S. debt sale since 2017, to fund AI infrastructure. The financing underscores demand and investment capacity, but also increases scrutiny of returns and leverage as spending expands. Microsoft bond sale
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft reduced its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to $170 billion from $175 billion after delays by third-party AI-chip providers pushed some capacity into the first half of 2027. The delay raises questions about near-term growth timing and contributed to weakness across AI infrastructure stocks. Microsoft AI capital expenditures
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI generated about $10 billion, or nearly 11%, of Microsoft’s quarterly revenue. While commercially significant, the concentration highlights customer and related-party exposure as Microsoft and OpenAI increasingly compete in some AI markets. Microsoft OpenAI revenue

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company's principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.

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