Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Cut to $510.00 by Analysts at Evercore

Key Points

• Evercore cut its price target on Microsoft from $580 to $510 while maintaining an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 26.9% upside from the stock's current price and beneath a MarketBeat consensus target of $555.20.
• Microsoft reported a quarter-beating EPS of $4.27 (vs. $4.04 est.) and revenue of $82.89B with ~40% Azure growth and AI/Copilot momentum, but the stock fell to $401.89 amid investor concerns over a ~49% jump in capex and guidance near $190B that pressures free cash flow.
• Insider and institutional moves included EVP Kathleen Hogan selling 12,321 shares and a director buying 5,000 shares, while large funds (e.g., Vanguard, State Street) increased positions and roughly 71.13% of Microsoft is held by institutions.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Evercore from $580.00 to $510.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the software giant's stock. Evercore's price target indicates a potential upside of 26.90% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MSFT. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $540.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.20.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $22.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $401.89. 26,838,256 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,350,984. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $395.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $448.65. Microsoft has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm 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.

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related 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 value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth 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 raised its position in Microsoft by 2.1% during the fourth 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 raised its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth 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 raised its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth 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 purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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