Key Points
- Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 Microsoft shares at an average price of $397.35 (~$1.99M), increasing his holdings to 83,905 shares (a 6.34% rise).
- Microsoft beat expectations for the quarter with EPS of $4.14 (consensus $3.86) and revenue of $81.27B (consensus $80.28B), with revenue up 16.7% year-over-year and a 39.04% net margin.
- Microsoft secured a deal to capture 20% of OpenAI's revenue through 2032, creating a material, long-duration potential cash-flow stream tied to OpenAI's monetization.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) Director John Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%
MSFT stock opened at $399.60 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $455.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $489.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth 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. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $590.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $591.95.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Microsoft
Microsoft News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft secured a deal to lock in a 20% share of OpenAI's revenue through 2032 — a material, long-duration cash-flow stream that reinforces MSFT's strategic AI partnership and upside if OpenAI monetizes broadly. Microsoft Locks In 20% Of OpenAI's Revenue
- Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 MSFT shares, signaling management confidence and giving investors a modest behavioral vote of confidence. Insider Purchase: Director at $MSFT Buys 5,000 Shares
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reaffirmed its renewable-energy commitments—continuing to match its electricity needs with clean power as it scales data-center capacity, which reduces regulatory/ESG risk for long-term investors. Microsoft to keep buying renewable energy to match electricity needs
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street interest: notes calling Microsoft “under-owned” and continued buy/overweight ratings (and a median price target well above current levels) provide conviction for inflows from institutional investors. Morgan Stanley: Microsoft is under-owned
- Neutral Sentiment: Global growth push: Microsoft says it’s on pace to invest ~$50B in AI across the “Global South” through 2030 — a major long-term market expansion that could drive growth but also requires heavy up-front capex and multi-year execution. Microsoft $50B Global South AI push
- Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships/marketplace traction: CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is now on Microsoft Marketplace, easing procurement for customers and reinforcing MSFT’s enterprise security ecosystem (incremental revenue/ stickiness but limited immediate top-line impact). Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
- Negative Sentiment: AI risks and bugs: reports of a Copilot/Office bug and new “AI recommendation poisoning” threats have raised short-term security and quality concerns around Microsoft's AI products, which can pressure enterprise adoption sentiment. New AI-Related Bug Does Not Dampen Microsoft Stock AI Recommendation Poisoning
- Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation and spending concerns: some funds are trimming MSFT amid worries that aggressive AI infrastructure and capex could weigh near-term margins — paired with downgrades and headlines about investor selling that create volatility. Investors Dump Microsoft Shares Melius Research Downgrades Microsoft
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).
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