Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $520.00 at President Capital

Key Points

• President Capital raised its price target on Microsoft to $520 (from $500) and kept a "buy" rating, implying about a 29% upside from the previous close.
• Analysts remain largely bullish with a consensus target of $555.20—the street tallies 1 Strong Buy, 40 Buys and 5 Holds—though individual targets vary widely among firms.
• Microsoft beat Q3 estimates (EPS $4.27 vs. $4.04; revenue $82.89B) but the stock slid to $401.89 as investors reacted to a roughly 49% jump in capex and guidance near ~$190B, plus near-term charges and competitive risks around AI partnerships.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at President Capital from $500.00 to $520.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. President Capital's target price would indicate a potential upside of 29.39% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.20.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $22.57 during 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock's 50-day moving average is $395.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $448.65. The stock has a market capitalization 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 has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm'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 purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

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).

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.