Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Buy Rating at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays reaffirmed its "buy" rating on Microsoft in a research note issued Tuesday.
• Analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $566.71 (38 Buys, 5 Holds, 2 Strong Buys), although several firms recently cut price targets (e.g., Rothschild & Co Redburn, Cantor Fitzgerald, Wedbush).
• Microsoft beat expectations last quarter with EPS of $4.14 vs. $3.86 estimated and revenue of $81.27B (up 16.7% YoY); the stock has a market cap of about $3.15 trillion.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Barclays in a research note issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MSFT. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $590.00 to $502.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wedbush decreased their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $566.71.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

MSFT opened at $424.82 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $393.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $449.40. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Legendary investor Michael Burry disclosed a new MSFT position, signaling a contrarian buy-the-dip view that can attract value-focused flows. Michael Burry Disagrees With the AI Narrative, Buys Microsoft Stock and 2 Unexpected Names
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture plans to roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot to ~743,000 employees — a large commercial win that supports Copilot monetization and Azure demand. Accenture to roll out Copilot to all 743,000 employees
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a major A$25B investment in Australia for AI and cloud infrastructure — a long‑term revenue and capex commitment that underlines hyperscale expansion. Microsoft (MSFT) Announces A$25B Investment in Australia’s AI and Cloud Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Q3 earnings preview: consensus expects ~ $4.06–4.14 EPS and ~$81B revenue; Azure growth and Copilot monetization are the key near‑term catalysts that could re‑rate the stock either way. Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Analyst Predictions Ahead of Q3 Earnings Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts (~reported ~7% of workforce option), a cost‑management step that lowers medium‑term expense risk but also signals pressure to reallocate spending toward AI. Tech Job Cuts: Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts
• Neutral Sentiment: Service interruptions (Outlook sign‑in issues) drew headlines but are operational/temporary and unlikely to materially affect fundamentals. Microsoft Outlook outage coverage
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI partnership reworked: Microsoft’s exclusive license was ended and revenue‑sharing was curtailed/capped — removal of exclusivity lowers MSFT’s AI moat in investor eyes and sparked an immediate share weakness. Microsoft and OpenAI gut exclusive deal
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts cut price targets after the partnership change and amid capex/margin concerns (examples: BMO, Cantor Fitzgerald, Oppenheimer lowered PTs), increasing near‑term downside perception. Coverage of recent price‑target cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and regulatory overhangs: the Musk v. Altman / OpenAI trial and a Slack antitrust suit over Teams bundling add litigation/regulatory risk to MSFT’s OpenAI exposure and product bundling businesses. Coverage of Musk‑Altman trial and Microsoft exposure

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.