DA Davidson Issues Positive Forecast for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Key Points

• DA Davidson has raised its price target for Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.12% from the previous close, while maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Microsoft's stock price increased by 3.7%, reaching $532.28, following strong earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations with an EPS of $3.65.
• Out of 33 analysts, 30 have rated Microsoft as a buy, with the average price target set at $609.86, reflecting strong analyst confidence in the stock.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) had its price objective raised by DA Davidson from $600.00 to $650.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the software giant's stock. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Microsoft's Q1 2026 earnings at $3.57 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $14.97 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $17.44 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $9.39 on Thursday, reaching $524.11. 28,948,527 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm's 50-day moving average is $489.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.