Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report)’s stock price rose 4.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $491.65 and last traded at $487.65. 65,949,546 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 74% from the average session volume of 37,962,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $464.72.
Key Microsoft News
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding consensus estimates of $87.62 billion and $4.24, respectively. Revenue increased 17.7% year over year, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth trajectory.
- Positive Sentiment: Azure growth accelerated to approximately 30%, while cloud revenue reportedly surpassed $100 billion for the fiscal year. Investors view the performance as evidence that demand for AI and cloud services is offsetting concerns about infrastructure costs. Why Microsoft Stock Is Surging Today
- Positive Sentiment: A large cloud backlog—part of an estimated $2.3 trillion backlog across major technology companies—provides visibility for future sales and helps justify continued AI capital expenditures. Microsoft’s data-center lease commitments reportedly exceeded $100 billion in the latest quarter.
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators increasingly argue that Microsoft is differentiating itself from other AI stocks by monetizing AI through Azure, Microsoft 365, Copilot and cybersecurity products. Strong margins and a relatively conservative balance sheet also ease concerns about the spending cycle. Microsoft Just Proved That AI Spending Can Pay Off
- Positive Sentiment: The Paychex WISE workforce-intelligence platform is now integrated with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams, adding another business use case for Microsoft’s productivity ecosystem. Paychex Brings WISE Workforce Intelligence to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group set a $525.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. New Street Research decreased their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.64.
Microsoft Stock Performance
The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $397.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $405.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Microsoft
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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