Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $629.46.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $454.52 on Friday. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $481.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th 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, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Wellington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,816,000 after buying an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position 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 valued at $457,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,382 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bristol Myers Squibb partners with Microsoft to deploy AI imaging tools to accelerate early lung?cancer detection — strengthens MSFT’s healthcare AI revenue pipeline and commercial credibility. Bristol Myers partners with Microsoft for AI-driven lung cancer detection
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI (Microsoft?backed) reportedly hit ~$20B revenue in 2025 — a direct upside to Microsoft’s AI exposure through cloud compute, licensing and partnership arrangements. Microsoft?Backed OpenAI Hits $20B Revenue Target in 2025
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing to cut data?center energy use and Nadella warns energy costs will decide the AI race — could reduce future operating/AI infra costs and support margins if successfully executed. Microsoft Wants to Lower Data Center Energy Use. Does That Help the Bull Case for MSFT Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen trimmed its price target (from $655 to $625) but kept a Buy — signals continued long?term conviction but acknowledges nearer?term valuation/nearterm risk. TD Cowen adjusts price target on Microsoft to $625 from $655, maintains buy rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft Marketplace gains incremental ecosystem wins (Cobalt Teams integration)—small revenue/engagement boost but limited immediate stock impact. Cobalt Microsoft® Teams® Integration Now Available in the Microsoft Marketplace®
• Neutral Sentiment: Jan. 28 earnings is the next major catalyst — investors will focus on Azure growth, AI-related capex and guidance. Dear Microsoft Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for January 28
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Azure cloud growth and forward guidance fell short of expectations have pressured the stock — investors are sensitive to any signs of decelerating cloud revenue or rising AI?related costs. Microsoft (MSFT) Traded Lower as Its Reported Azure Cloud Growth and Forward Guidance Fell Short of Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft researchers published a list of jobs most exposed to AI, and related headlines have contributed to short?term investor and public sentiment concerns — this helped headlines driving intraday weakness. Microsoft researchers have revealed the 40 jobs most exposed to AI—and even teachers make the list
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market/geo?political headlines and a tech sector selloff (Magnificent Seven weakness) amplified pressure on MSFT today — macro risk is dragging even well?funded AI leaders. America’s Biggest Tech Stocks Lead Tuesday’s Selloff as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Rattles Markets

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).