Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Buy (B) Rating at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "buy (B)" rating for Microsoft, reflecting positive outlook from multiple brokerages.
• Several firms have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Jefferies Financial Group increasing it to $675.00 and Royal Bank of Canada maintaining a target of $640.00.
• Microsoft's recent quarterly performance surpassed expectations, reporting $3.65 EPS and revenue of $76.44 billion, up 18.1% year-over-year.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.47.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $524.85 on Wednesday. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company's 50-day moving average price is $513.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $469.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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. This represents a 15.87% 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.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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