Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Earns Buy Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has reaffirmed a "buy" rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), reflecting strong ongoing confidence from equity research analysts.
• Microsoft reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.65, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue totaling $76.44 billion, a year-over-year increase of 18.1%.
• The stock has seen various price targets set by analysts, with Royal Bank of Canada setting the highest target at $640.00, while the average price target is approximately $617.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Microsoft from $680.00 to $682.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $617.44.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

Microsoft stock opened at $524.09 on Friday. 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. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $511.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $479.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.40, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company 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 revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company'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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company'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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the first 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 during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% in the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock worth $54,376,000 after acquiring an additional 40,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Well Done LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,930,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during 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.

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