Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 2.2% – Should You Sell?

11 Feb 2026, 18:20 by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) fell 2.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $401.01 and last traded at $404.37. 41,122,875 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 38,713,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $413.27.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Channel/SQL migrations provide steady revenue growth and large contracted backlog (RPO), which supports longer‑term cash flow even as AI capex ramps. This fundamental argument is being pushed as the counterpoint to headline AI worries. MarketBeat: Microsoft’s Cloud Migrations Matter More Than AI Hype
Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s sovereign cloud partnership wins (e.g., Capgemini collaboration) and other enterprise deals are giving modest pre‑market support and validate multi‑year enterprise demand. TipRanks: Microsoft Rises on Sovereign Cloud Collab
Positive Sentiment: Some asset managers and analysts view the post‑earnings sell‑off as a buying opportunity — Wedbush and others highlight the structural AI capex wave as ultimately rewarding scale players like Microsoft. Proactive Investors: Microsoft and Google face $650bn AI spending test
Neutral Sentiment: Security: Microsoft released patches for actively exploited zero‑day vulnerabilities in Windows and Office — important for customers but unlikely to be a major market driver. TechCrunch: Microsoft fixes critical zero‑day bugs
Neutral Sentiment: Longer‑term tech themes (quantum, OpenAI linkage) keep Microsoft in investor screens as a hybrid AI/enterprise play; some research notes highlight MSFT’s diversified exposure vs pure‑play quantum names. Zacks: Quantum Hype vs. Profits
Negative Sentiment: Investor concern over elevated AI/data‑center capex and conservative near‑term Azure guidance triggered steep selling after the earnings release; headlines on “record spending / slowing cloud growth” are the main proximate cause of the downward move. InsiderMonkey: Microsoft Forecasts 37%–38% Azure Growth as Investors Question Heavy Outlays
Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and fund trimming (e.g., Melius downgrade; some institutional position cuts) amplify selling pressure by signaling elevated risk to free cash flow and margins from sustained AI capex. Yahoo Finance: Melius Downgrades Microsoft to Hold
Negative Sentiment: Macro/market flow: the broader software/mega‑cap pullback and Nasdaq weakness (Big Tech leading the decline) are contributing to intra‑day pressure on MSFT. 24/7 Wall St.: Nasdaq dragged by Big Tech including Microsoft

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $641.00 price target (down previously from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, New Street Research increased their target price on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.

View Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $465.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $494.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

(Get Free Report)

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).