Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Rating Increased to Overweight at KeyCorp

Key Points

• KeyCorp has upgraded Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from a "sector weight" to an "overweight" rating, with a price target of $630.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.75%.
• Analysts from various firms have also issued positive ratings, with Citigroup raising their target to $613.00 and Stifel Nicolaus to $550.00.
• Microsoft recently reported strong earnings, with a net margin of 35.79% and revenue growth of 18.1% year-over-year, surpassing analysts' estimates.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at KeyCorp from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $630.00 price target on the software giant's stock. KeyCorp's price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.38% from the stock's current price. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Microsoft's Q1 2026 earnings at $3.66 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.89 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.91 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $18.05 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $21.35 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $25.96 EPS.

MSFT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $581.00 target price (up previously from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $625.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded down $5.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $527.74. The company had a trading volume of 5,430,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,267,000. The business has a 50-day moving average of $488.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $434.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 33.49%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CCLA Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.7% in the second quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 664,212 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $330,199,000 after purchasing an additional 41,495 shares during the period. Yukon Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Yukon Wealth Management Inc. now owns 19,885 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,891,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 12,182 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,059,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Red Lighthouse Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Red Lighthouse Investment Management LLC now owns 15,268 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,594,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Cryder Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cryder Capital Partners LLP now owns 414,668 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $206,260,000 after buying an additional 26,236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.