Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Arete Analyst Says

Key Points

• Arete analysts have increased their price target for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from $700.00 to $710.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.08% from the stock's current price.
• Other analysts have also raised their price targets for Microsoft, with current average targets now sitting at $617.63 and a majority rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Microsoft reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and marking an 18.1% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Arete from $700.00 to $710.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. Arete's price target suggests a potential upside of 37.08% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $617.63.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $517.95 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $512.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth $18,733,827,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 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.

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