Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 1.7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $517.78 and last traded at $513.53. Approximately 29,598,583 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 36,658,574 shares. The stock had previously closed at $505.06.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly in early discussions with China-based Moonshot AI about its Kimi K3 model. A potential Azure partnership or revenue-sharing arrangement could add another AI product and growth catalyst to Microsoft’s cloud platform. MSFT Stock Alert: Moonshot Could Give Microsoft Another AI Revenue Stream
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI infrastructure expansion remains a key focus. The company is expected to spend approximately $175 billion on AI this year, while a planned 50-megawatt data-center deployment using NVIDIA GB300 systems and reported work with IREN underscore demand for Azure capacity. ChronoScale and Microsoft plan 50 MW AI compute deployment with NVIDIA GB300 systems
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary highlighted Azure’s roughly 43% year-over-year expansion, Copilot’s reported 30 million paid users, a $678 billion contracted backlog and Azure revenue surpassing $100 billion. These indicators support expectations for continued cloud growth and backlog conversion. Prediction: Microsoft Could Be the Next $5 Trillion Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Technical momentum also improved: Microsoft moved above a new buy point and recently formed a “golden cross,” with its 50-day moving average rising above the 200-day average. Strong NVIDIA results and broader enthusiasm for AI stocks provided an additional market tailwind. Microsoft Just Flashed Golden Cross Signal
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft joined more than 100 technology companies in a cybersecurity initiative warning that AI could accelerate cyber threats. The pledge may strengthen Microsoft’s security and cloud opportunity, but it also includes commitments for funding, training and broader access. Tech giants warn time is running out to prepare for AI threats
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts argue that Microsoft’s recent rerating and roughly 14% one-month rally may have largely run its course, raising valuation and profit-taking concerns. Reported open-market insider activity has also consisted entirely of sales over the past six months. Microsoft: The Rerating Is Probably Over For Now

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Arete Research boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $428.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $199,014,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 8.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares during the period. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $502,077,000 after acquiring an additional 788,297 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).