Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $550.00 Price Target at DA Davidson

Key Points

• DA Davidson cut its price target on Microsoft to $550 (from $650) but maintained a buy rating, implying about a 36.85% upside from the current share price.
• Microsoft beat Q3 estimates—EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89B—with strong Azure and AI/Copilot momentum, but shares fell as investors reacted to a roughly 49% jump in capex and guidance near $190B, raising near‑term cash‑flow concerns.
• The sell‑side remains largely bullish with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of about $555.20; institutional investors own roughly 71.13% of the stock.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by stock analysts at DA Davidson from $650.00 to $550.00 in a report released on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. DA Davidson's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 36.85% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $610.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $615.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $555.20.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $22.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $401.89. 26,838,256 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,350,984. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $395.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.65. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IRON Financial LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 23.2% during the third quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,372,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. PMG Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant's stock worth $493,860,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,499,000 after buying an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

More 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.

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).

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