Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 2% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Microsoft's stock increased by 2% after Arete Research upgraded their price target from $710.00 to $730.00.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares at an average price of $504.78, resulting in a significant decrease in his ownership.
• Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91, up from the previous $0.83, with the ex-dividend date set for November 20th.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) rose 2% on Tuesday after Arete Research raised their price target on the stock from $710.00 to $730.00. The stock traded as high as $553.72 and last traded at $542.07. Approximately 29,730,022 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 37% from the average daily volume of 21,637,043 shares. The stock had previously closed at $531.52.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $626.58.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the first quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $54,376,000 after buying an additional 40,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Well Done LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 8.9% in the second quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,930,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $511.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $483.46.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 26.69%.

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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