Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Microsoft has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating increased investor confidence in the company's stock.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft shares, with estimates ranging from $625.00 to $675.00, contributing to a consensus target price of $618.47.
• Microsoft's recent earnings report showed a significant revenue increase, reporting $76.44 billion for the quarter, which surpassed analysts' expectations.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Melius Research increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $618.47.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.96 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $513.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $471.16. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. 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 company has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business'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. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft 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. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft 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 trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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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