Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $506.48 and last traded at $505.06. Approximately 27,384,008 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 36,677,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $496.37.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a long-term partnership with Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN to bring HUMAIN’s Arabic-language ALLAM AI models to Microsoft Foundry and Microsoft 365 Copilot. The agreement expands Microsoft’s enterprise AI presence in the Middle East and adds localized capabilities to its platform. Microsoft Expands Middle East AI Footprint Through Long-Term HUMAIN Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft outlined an AI-at-work product roadmap emphasizing Copilot and broader workplace automation. Investors see the strategy as supportive of recurring software revenue and adoption across Microsoft’s enterprise customer base. Microsoft Stock Gains With AI at Work Roadmap
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and ChronoScale plan to deploy a 50-megawatt AI data center using Nvidia GB300 systems. The project highlights continuing demand for Microsoft’s AI infrastructure and Azure-related capacity, although financial details were not provided. ChronoScale and Microsoft Plan 50 MW AI Compute Deployment
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst Dan Ives identified Microsoft, along with Alphabet and Amazon, as potential beneficiaries of the next phase of the AI trade following Nvidia’s strong earnings. Separately, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square reportedly made Microsoft its largest AI holding, adding to favorable investor sentiment. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Made Microsoft Its Largest AI Holding
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Superintelligence team is pursuing internally developed frontier models and greater AI self-sufficiency. The effort could reduce reliance on outside model providers over time, but it also requires substantial investment and has uncertain commercial returns. Microsoft AI Self-Sufficiency Strategy
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage continues to highlight concerns over limited disclosure of Microsoft’s AI economics, heavy infrastructure spending and weaker cash conversion despite a large contracted backlog. Higher Nvidia server and memory costs could further pressure near-term margins and free cash flow. Microsoft’s Sprint Leaves Cash Flow Behind

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $425.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $411.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Montgomery Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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).