Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Earns Outperform Rating from Wedbush

Key Points

• Wedbush has reaffirmed an "outperform" rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) with a target price of $625.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.34% from its recent close.
• A total of 32 analysts have rated Microsoft as a Buy, while only two have issued a Hold rating, contributing to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $617.44.
• Microsoft's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $3.65, exceeding estimates by $0.30, with revenue growing 18.1% year-over-year to $76.44 billion.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by equities researchers at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $625.00 target price on the software giant's stock. Wedbush's target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.34% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $617.44.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $6.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $523.71. 1,826,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,607,453. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $511.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $478.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% 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 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 value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Real Talk Capital LLC boosted its position 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 worth $860,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant's stock worth $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock worth $54,376,000 after buying an additional 40,860 shares during the period. Finally, Well Done LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.9% during the second 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 period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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