Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Microsoft's stock rating was upgraded from "hold" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, reflecting growing confidence among analysts.
• The average price target for Microsoft shares is now set at $617.63, with numerous brokerages maintaining 'buy' ratings.
• Microsoft reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, posting $3.65 EPS which exceeded expectations, and a year-over-year revenue increase of 18.1%.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MSFT. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Arete raised their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $617.63.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $1.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $517.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,100,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,894,910. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $512.83 and a 200-day moving average of $466.63. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in 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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