Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price shot up 1.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $489.70 and last traded at $483.6270. 25,410,381 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average session volume of 24,814,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $478.51.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: High-profile Copilot exposure as it “called” Super Bowl 60, raising consumer awareness and marketing value for Microsoft’s Copilot brand, which supports broader adoption of paid AI services. Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Jumps as Copilot Calls Super Bowl 60
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership with Hexagon to deploy Azure?powered humanoid robots on factory floors expands Microsoft’s addressable market in industrial automation and drives enterprise Azure consumption. Revenue and long?term service contracts could follow if deployments scale. Microsoft, Hexagon Put Humanoid Robots On Factory Floors
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition of Osmos (autonomous data?engineering) strengthens Microsoft’s data stack for Azure and Copilot use cases, helping customers automate pipelines — a strategic tuck?in that can accelerate Azure usage and stickiness. Microsoft acquires data analytics startup Osmos to fuel push into ‘autonomous data engineering’
• Positive Sentiment: Deals to modernize U.S. grid operators (Midcontinent Independent System Operator and other utilities) highlight Azure’s role in critical?infrastructure AI and power management — an avenue for multi?year cloud and services revenue. Microsoft works with major US electric grid operator to modernize Midwest power system
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat (Wedbush / Daniel Ives and others) calling MSFT a top AI play and pointing to strong Azure growth and Copilot user metrics — this supports investor confidence and relative valuation support. Here’s Why Analysts Consider Microsoft (MSFT) a Top AI Play for 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings preview: MSFT is expected to post another double?digit quarter as Azure and AI services grow, but upcoming results will be watched closely for Azure AI monetization and guidance. Short?term moves may hinge on execution vs lofty expectations. Microsoft Earnings Preview: What to Expect
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is planning thousands of layoffs (estimates range widely) raise questions about near?term costs, morale, and execution risk — the market may price in uncertainty around reorganization and restructuring charges. Microsoft (MSFT) Is Rumored to Be Planning Thousands of Job Cuts as AI Spending Accelerates
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about 2025’s most popular games and AI’s impact on gaming raise potential headwinds for Xbox/content revenue and engagement — a smaller but visible risk to consumer segment growth. 2025’s Most Popular Games Raise Concerns for Sony, Microsoft (MSFT) & Nintendo (NTDOF)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Baird R W upgraded Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $491.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $503.98.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,816,000 after buying an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $457,119,000 after acquiring an additional 33,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 4.3% in the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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).