Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Microsoft has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 32 brokerages, with a target price averaging $612.54.
• The company reported earnings of $3.65 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showcasing an 18.1% revenue growth year-over-year.
• Microsoft announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.91, which will be paid on December 11th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $612.5357.

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $9.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $517.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 52,313,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,503,336. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $511.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $458.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Seek First Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant's stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,333,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,373,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 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.