Microsoft stock: buy or sell
Updated on:
Apr 22nd, 2021
2
Microsoft stock brief
- After marking all-time highs last Monday, Microsoft closed on Wednesday at $260.58 only moving a 0.90%
- Bank of America posted a strong buy rating for Microsoft on Wednesday, targeting $300.00
- Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide.
Should I buy Microsoft stock?
Even if you are a experienced or a novel trader, best trading results come from using an investing strategy that never leaves to random or subjective opinions when is the best moment to buy or sell stocks. Trading strategies are meant for helping you in the decision process of what stocks to pick and when is the best moment to buy them. At Stocks2.com, we like to use very simple but trusted and powerful trend following trading strategies. Simple things usually work the best
Is $MSFT stock a buy?
In the current situation of Microsoft there is not any eligible buy setup. This doesn't mean we expect a selloff for $MSFT in coming sessions, or that it may not climb higher. Simply, it doesn't match our recommended trading systems
Should I sell Microsoft stock?
Knowing when to sell a stock is even harder than knowing when to buy it. Similarly to when we have to buy shares, choosing when is appropiate time to sell is not a whimsy decision, and we must use our own trading strategy. When selling, as well as buying, our setups are very simple to use but are only valid for selling stocks you already own, not for selling short Microsoft stock
A guiding principle is that you should not mantain an open trade that yields greater losses than those expected by the time of purchase. When to sell shares should always be ruled by the stop-loss (automatic or manual)
Is it time to sell Microsoft stock?
Currently, Microsoft stock doesn't match any of our preferred sell setups, so if you own Microsoft stock and your operation is in profit probably is not time to sell now
Microsoft ratings
In the last 30 days, 6 ratings were published for Microsoft. General sentiment is bullish, with 6 out of 6 publishing positive outlooks
| Brokerage firm | Rating |
|---|---|
| Apr 5th, 2021 | |
| Credit Suisse Group | Buy |
| Apr 12th, 2021 | |
| BMO Capital Markets | Buy |
| Apr 13th, 2021 | |
| Argus | |
| Apr 19th, 2021 | |
| Argus | |
| BMO Capital Markets | Buy |
| Apr 21st, 2021 | |
| Bank of America | |
Microsoft stock analysis
Microsoft stock started an uptrend in September 2020, and grew an amazing 33.43%. The price line shows higher highs and higher lows, and along the way provided some buying opportunities for those who wanted to enter. Latest pullback was in early March, when price bounced at $224.26. On April 5, Microsoft broke out above its last top ($245.56) offering a good entry point
$MSFT at Highs
Last Monday, Microsoft hit new all-time highs (ATH) again at $261.48. It's the sixth time in the last 10 sessions, marking an important rally
SMAs overview
Supports and resistances
Price is at highs and there are not upper resistance levels.
The current support levels are:
Bollinger bands
The price is trading near to the upper Bollinger band, indicating some level of overbought in recent sessions. This is not a sell point, as price can trade in these levels for many days and weeks
Relative strength index
The RSI dropped below the overbought level of 70 last Monday after just crossing to the overbough zone for just one day (weak signal). The RSI reading on Wednesday was 67.93
Microsoft stock price history
Microsoft started trading priced at an adjusted price1 of $0.06 on Mar 1986. Since then, MSFT stock has risen by 434,200.00%, with an average of 12,405.71% per year. If you had invested thousand dollars in Microsoft stock at that time, it would have a value of $4,343,000.00 today.
1: Adjusted price after possible price splits or reverse-splits
Price target for Microsoft stock
Nobody knows how much a share will be priced tomorrow. Banks and financial organisations post their analysis forecasting how a stock will performance in the future.
The following table shows the price predictions posted by brokerage institutions over the last 30 days. If you are a small investor you should not trade based on these forecasts.
The average price target for Microsoft stock calculated from the table below is $287.50. Microsoft closed at $260.58 on Wednesday, so the target price is expecting a growth by 10.33%.
| Brokerage firm | Price target |
|---|---|
| Apr 5th, 2021 | |
| Credit Suisse Group | $265.00 |
| Apr 12th, 2021 | |
| BMO Capital Markets | $270.00 → $280.00 |
| Apr 13th, 2021 | |
| Argus | $275.00 → $300.00 |
| Apr 19th, 2021 | |
| Argus | $275.00 → $300.00 |
| BMO Capital Markets | $270.00 → $280.00 |
| Apr 21st, 2021 | |
| Bank of America | $280.00 → $300.00 |
Earnings and financials
Investors event was hosted by Microsoft ($MSFT) last January after releasing the financial report. Microsoft surpassed consensus earnings estimates and reported of $2.03, that is a 23.78% surprise compared to the predictions of $1.64. In addition, reported revenues were $43.1 billion versus estimates of $40.2 billion.
Same quarter one year ago, reported EPS was $1.51, so recently posted EPS means an improvement of 34.44%. Looking at revenues, figures exploded a 16.72% compared to $369.1B same quarter a year ago.Microsoft ($MSFT) will host the earnings call next Wednesday. Analysts estimate of $1.77, that is a 12.81% lower than Q2.
Microsoft competitors
Microsoft is part of the Technology sector and the Software - Infrastructure industry, where it has industry peers.
The following are some of Microsoft most relevant competitors:
| Company | Market cap | Rating | Bullish ratings1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft ($MSFT) | $1.8T | | 6 |
| Apple ($AAPL) | $2.0T | Buy | 5 |
| Google ($GOOGL) | $1.4T | | 9 |
| Oracle ($ORCL) | $213.7B | Neutral | 0 |
| Cisco Systems ($CSCO) | $206.8B | Buy | 3 |
| SAP SE ADS (SAP) | $142.9B | | 1 |
| IBM ($IBM) | $115.2B | Buy | 2 |
| HP ($HPQ) | $37.3B | Buy | 3 |
1 In the last 30 days.
Microsoft performance
To better understand Microsoft stock performance you must compare its gains with other related stocks in same sector or industry.. For Microsoft, the benchmark is made against Apple, Google, Oracle, Cisco Systems, SAP SE ADS, IBM and HP.
| Company | 1m | 3m | 6m |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft ($MSFT) | 9.70% | 16.20% | 21.30% |
| Apple ($AAPL) | 8.20% | -0.10% | 15.30% |
| Google ($GOOGL) | 11.70% | 20.30% | 49.60% |
| Oracle ($ORCL) | 20.20% | 29.70% | 32.30% |
| Cisco Systems ($CSCO) | 4.60% | 15.70% | 33.70% |
| SAP SE ADS (SAP) | 16.30% | 11.20% | -6.50% |
| IBM ($IBM) | 10.10% | 11.80% | 23.20% |
| HP ($HPQ) | 11.70% | 33.40% | 75.20% |
Please read:
The comments expressed in this article are personal and should not be followed as recommendations for you to buy or sell shares. The author of this document does not have an understanding of the individual conditions of the reader, his or her financial statements or his or her own best interests at any given time. All users should speak with their financial advisor before buying or selling any securities Viewpoints are posted for educative purposes onlyMicrosoft summary
| Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 | |
|---|---|
| Open | $258.94 |
| Close | $260.58 |
| Day range | $257.25 - $260.68 |
| Previous close | $258.26 |
| Session gain | 0.90% |
| Average true range | $5.77 |
| 50d mov avg | $240.61 |
| 100d mov avg | $231.00 |
| 200d mov avg | $220.58 |
| Earnings date | April 28th, 2021 |