Truist Financial Reiterates Buy Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Truist Financial in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $575.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target suggests a potential upside of 47.89% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. President Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $556.37.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded down $8.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $388.80. 10,255,665 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,125,207. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average is $399.87 and its 200-day moving average is $409.57. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after acquiring an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its strategic partnership with Mistral AI, committing to support the French startup’s European AI infrastructure and broader distribution through Microsoft’s cloud platform. The deal reinforces Microsoft’s AI ambitions in Europe and could help drive future Azure and enterprise AI demand. Reuters: Microsoft to fund Mistral’s European AI expansion in multibillion-dollar deal
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with Morgan Stanley reiterating a positive view and setting a $600 price target, while CLSA also upgraded the stock. Analysts continue to see Microsoft as a key AI and cloud winner with substantial long-term upside. Finbold: Wall Street analyst updates Microsoft stock price target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is also being linked to broader federal AI and data-center initiatives, including support for AI infrastructure efforts and partnerships that highlight its central role in the AI buildout. That keeps the company in the middle of major spending themes investors are tracking. TipRanks: Microsoft expands support for Trump’s $5B AI for Science push
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft reports fiscal Q4 earnings on July 29, and investors are focused on Azure growth, AI spending, Copilot adoption, and forward guidance. Expectations are high, but the setup is mixed, so the report could be a major stock mover in either direction. Zacks: Microsoft reports next week
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is facing several securities class-action lawsuits tied to alleged disclosures around Copilot and AI claims. While these filings do not change fundamentals immediately, they add headline risk and may weigh on sentiment until the legal situation becomes clearer. PR Newswire: MSFT shareholder alert class action lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage points to lingering concerns about Microsoft’s AI execution, including whether Copilot is growing fast enough to justify the company’s heavy spending. That skepticism appears to be contributing to pressure on the shares despite the broader AI optimism. TipRanks: Microsoft stock slips after pledging billions to fund Mistral’s AI buildout

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).