Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Gets Downgrade from Phillip Securities

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was downgraded by equities researchers at Phillip Securities from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “market outperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $581.80.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

Microsoft stock opened at $543.45 on Monday. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The company has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $503.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $437.50.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $85,604,000 after purchasing an additional 8,773 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $199,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 8.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew 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 purchasing an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 strengthens Microsoft’s AI infrastructure strategy. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 AI chip and plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning in 2027. The company says the chip can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, potentially lowering computing costs and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD. Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Maia 300 Custom AI Chip For Widespread Deployment
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud demand remain major valuation catalysts. Reports highlight accelerating Azure demand, a record commercial backlog and more than $130 billion in new data-center leases, supporting expectations for continued growth in cloud and AI services. Microsoft also has several generations of proprietary AI chips, giving investors a potential long-term margin and supply-chain advantage. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism provides additional support. Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects greater differentiation in software as the next quarter progresses. The company is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter results on October 28, with analysts looking for roughly $4.72 in earnings per share and $90.4 billion in revenue. Microsoft price target raised to $600 from $512 at Barclays

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.