Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Earns Buy Rating from UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group has reaffirmed a buy rating for Microsoft's stock, with several other analysts also raising their target prices, boosting investor confidence.
• Microsoft shares increased by 1.2%, reaching $523.71, while the company has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion.
• Microsoft's latest earnings report showed earnings per share of $3.65, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting an 18.1% revenue growth year-over-year.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by analysts at UBS Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research boosted their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $617.44.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $6.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $523.71. 1,826,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,607,453. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50 day moving average is $511.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.38. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Microsoft

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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