Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) traded up 2.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $433.70 and last traded at $432.92. 28,737,292 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 35,567,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $424.16.
Trending Headlines about Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft said it will embed Anthropic’s Claude Mythos AI into its secure development lifecycle, boosting its enterprise security and AI tooling narrative — a clear revenue/lock‑in positive for Azure and enterprise customers. Microsoft to integrate Anthropic's Mythos
- Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights Microsoft’s push to become the backbone for “agentic” AI on the internet — positioning Azure and its services as essential infrastructure for next‑generation AI workloads. That narrative supports continued cloud capex demand. Agentic AI backbone plan
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft cut Xbox Game Pass prices to boost subscriber growth and user engagement — a strategic consumer move investors have taken positively as it could widen the installed base and long‑term monetization opportunities even if short‑term ARPU is pressured. Xbox price cuts
- Neutral Sentiment: Leadership change at LinkedIn — longtime exec Daniel Shapero named CEO — signals continuity as LinkedIn doubles down on AI integration for productivity and hiring workflows; material but not a near‑term revenue shock. LinkedIn names Daniel Shapero CEO
- Negative Sentiment: A UK tribunal allowed a mass $2.8B lawsuit over cloud licensing to proceed, keeping a sizable legal overhang on Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices and potential future payouts. That ruling is a concrete risk to sentiment and could weigh on valuation until resolved. UK $2.8B lawsuit
- Negative Sentiment: Analyses questioning whether Microsoft is “keeping up” in the AI race (coverage calling it a possible “code red”) are feeding investor jitters about competitive execution and margin pressure from rising AI investments. Code Red AI concerns
- Negative Sentiment: Ongoing scrutiny of Microsoft’s AI investments and strategy (analyst and media critique) adds short‑term volatility risk ahead of upcoming earnings and further AI product launches. AI investments scrutiny
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, DZ Bank reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $576.66.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Price Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $392.16 and its 200-day moving average is $452.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.11.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.
Insider Activity
In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
About Microsoft
(
Get Free Report)
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).
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