Wall Street Zen Downgrades Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to Hold

by · The Markets Daily

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $630.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Arete Research boosted their price target on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.33.

View Our Latest Research Report on MSFT

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $492.12 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $509.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $500.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Real Talk Capital LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $54,376,000 after buying an additional 40,860 shares during the period. Well Done LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.9% in the second quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,930,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,210 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,042,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Microsoft

(Get Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.

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