Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Buy Rating at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on Microsoft, part of a broader analyst backdrop (1 Strong Buy, 40 Buy, 5 Hold) that leaves a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a mean price target of $555.20.
• Microsoft beat Q3 expectations with EPS of $4.27 vs. $4.04 and $82.89B in revenue, while Azure grew ~40% and AI/Copilot monetization was cited as a key driver of top‑line acceleration.
• Shares slid to $401.89 as investors reacted to a ~49% jump in capex and guidance near $190B, plus one‑time charges, which raised near‑term free‑cash‑flow and execution concerns.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group in a report released on Thursday,MarketScreener reports.

MSFT has been the topic of several other research reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $646.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $555.20.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $22.57 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $401.89. The company had a trading volume of 26,838,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,350,984. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $395.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $448.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.30 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and cloud momentum — Microsoft reported an EPS beat and ~40% Azure growth; AI revenue and Copilot adoption were highlighted as drivers of durable top‑line acceleration. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Copilot and AI monetization — Management said paid Copilot users and AI annual run‑rate (~$37B) are growing, supporting long‑term revenue levers beyond basic cloud. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions mixed but largely bullish — Several firms reiterated Buy/Outperform and raised targets after the print, leaving longer‑term analyst conviction intact. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management stance on execution — CFO said supply‑chain limits can be managed even as capex outlook rises, signaling the company expects to deliver capacity without derailing operations. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Record capex and cash‑flow pressure — Investors reacted to a roughly 49% jump in capex and guidance near ~$190B for 2026; purchases of servers/data‑center gear pulled down free cash flow and spooked short‑term holders. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI relationship reset increases competitive risk — OpenAI models are now available on rival clouds (Amazon Bedrock preview), reducing Microsoft’s prior cloud exclusivity upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: One‑time charges and workforce moves — Microsoft flagged a ~$900M voluntary‑retirement charge and said headcount will decline, adding near‑term noise to results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large shareholder moves and regulatory risk — Some funds trimmed positions and EU regulators signaled closer scrutiny of cloud/AI services, which can amplify volatility. Read More.

About Microsoft

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).

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