Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 2.3% – What’s Next?

Posted by Francis Steltz on Jun 17th, 2026

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) were up 2.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $401.75 and last traded at $399.76. Approximately 31,989,742 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 35,844,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.74.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to show strong long-term AI positioning, with articles noting robust AI revenue growth and that the company remains a compelling way to play the AI boom. Microsoft: Growth Outlook Still Robust Without OpenAI Exclusivity
Positive Sentiment: New products and platform integrations, including Microsoft Advertising’s Media Marketplace launch partner Dstillery and Copilot-related AI updates, suggest ongoing monetization opportunities. Dstillery Brings Predictive AI Audiences to Microsoft Media Marketplace as Launch Partner
Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary argued Microsoft remains undervalued relative to its AI growth, but these were mostly opinion pieces rather than new business developments. Microsoft in 2026: Still the Smartest Way to Play the AI Boom?
Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal due to security issues weighed on shares and raised concern about AI infrastructure availability. Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure talks with Oracle collapse, Business Insider reports
Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced or reminded investors about class-action litigation tied to Microsoft’s Azure and AI disclosures, creating an added legal and reputational overhang. Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Encourages Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Shareholders To Inquire About Securities Fraud Class Action
Negative Sentiment: Analyst commentary turned more cautious, with several pieces warning that Microsoft’s valuation may already reflect much of the AI optimism and recommending investors sell rallies. Why This Analyst Is Telling Investors to Dump Microsoft Stock (MSFT)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. New Street Research lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Evercore lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.20.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $412.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $426.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

(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).