Summary
eToro is a social trading and investment platform that allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, indices, forex and commodities. The broker offers a variety of features and offerings, including copy trading and fractional share ownership. eToro also offers a variety of educational resources to help users learn about trading and investing. These resources include articles, videos, and webinars.
The broker is regulated by financial bodies in several countries around the world, including: Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Overall, the platform is a good option for investors of all levels of experience. Its variety of features and offerings makes it a good choice for both beginners and experienced investors. This guide article will discuss how to buy Microsoft (MSFT) stocks on eToro. We will look at the pros and cons of buying stocks on the broker, the factors to be considered, trading platforms available, fees you are likely to pay and the payment methods you can use when trading Microsoft shares on eToro.
Microsoft (MSFT) Stocks
Microsoft stocks are widely regarded as blue chip stocks because of their stable financial performance, large market capitalization, and the fact that they are widely held by investors all over the world. They first became available to the public on March 13, 1986, with an initial public offering (IPO) price of $21 per share. Microsoft raised $61 million from the IPO, which was the largest IPO in history at the time.
According to data from Statista, Microsoft is worth $2.309 trillion in 2023, making it the second most valuable company in the world, just behind Apple. Microsoft currently has about 7.5 billion outstanding shares in the stock market. These stocks are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MSFT.
How to Buy Microsoft (MSFT) Stocks on eToro
Buying Microsoft stocks on eToro is as simple as following a few simple steps:
- Open a Trading Account on eToro
- Verify the Trading Account
- Deposit Funds
- Search for Microsoft Stocks
- Buy Microsoft Stocks
- Manage your Microsoft Positions
Pros and Cons of Buying Microsoft (MSFT) Stocks on eToro
Buying shares in Microsoft on eToro comes with its own share of benefits, downsides, and risks. Here are some of them:
Pros
- Well-Regulated Broker
- Wide Range of Payment Methods
- Availability of Fractional Shares
- Social and Copy Trading Platforms Available
- Access to Educational Resources.
Cons
- Withdrawal and Conversion Fees
- Relatively Wide Spread
Factors to Consider Before Buying Microsoft (MSFT) Stocks on eToro
Before you buy MSFT stocks on eToro, there are a few factors that can affect your trading experience. Here are some factors you should look out for:
Fees and Commissions
Most brokers charge fees and commissions from users trading on their platforms. eToro, on the other hand, is a zero-commission broker, which means it doesn’t charge a cut or a commission on trades made. However, it charges some trading and non-trading fees when you trade Microsoft shares on the platform. The most common fee you are likely to come across is the spread, which is the difference between the price you are willing to pay for a share (the ask price) and the price you are willing to receive for the same share (bid price).
You can learn more about the fees eToro charges by checking their website to see the entire list.
Trading Platforms
A trading platform is a software application that allows traders to buy and sell financial assets like bonds, cryptocurrencies, or in this case, a Microsoft stock. A stock broker can choose to use a third-party trading platform to sell stocks to its registered users or create a proprietary trading platform for exclusive use by its traders only. Some stock brokers offer both options.
eToro uses a proprietary trading platform only, meaning the platform on the eToro website is strictly for registered traders and cannot be found anywhere else. You can check it out using a demo account to decide if you are comfortable with it.
Leverage
Leverage is a term used in trading to refer to a way for traders to amplify their trading positions using borrowed capital. Leverage allows you to control a larger position with a smaller amount of money, so if you have $100 and you use 1:10 leverage, you can control a position worth $1000.
eToro offers leverage to traders interested in holding larger positions when buying Microsoft shares. However, you may be subject to overnight fees if you trade with leverage.
Stock Offering
eToro offers both real stocks and CFDs to users looking to trade either or both. CFDs or contracts for difference are a type of derivative that allows you to speculate on the price movements of an asset without actually owning the asset. These derivatives often require the use of leverages, which eToro offers.
eToro Trading Platforms to Buy Microsoft (MSFT) Stocks
As mentioned earlier, eToro has a proprietary trading platform which it offers exclusively to its registered users. eToro is known mainly for its social trading feature, using the CopyTrader. With this feature, you can copy the trades of successful traders and see similar results in your own trades. The platform also has features like order entry, market data, charts and analysis, and account management.
The trading platform is available on both desktop and mobile devices, depending on the trader’s preference.
Desktop Trading Platform
The broker offers a trading platform for people with laptops, desktops or workstations. This trading platform can only be accessed by visiting the eToro website on your desktop device and logging into your trading account.
Many institutional traders prefer the desktop trading platform because of the large screen real estate available to them when trading, which ensures that they see orders, charts, notifications, etc. However, they have the disadvantage of not being portable enough for trading on-the-go. This is because it’s impossible to take your desktop or laptop everywhere you go and trade while on the move.
Mobile App
If you don’t want to buy a beefy desktop or laptop, you can trade Microsoft stocks on eToro using your mobile device. eToro offers a mobile app on smartphones and tablets for traders interested in making trades on the move. You can get this mobile app on the Google PlayStore and Apple Store for Android and iOS devices respectively.
The eToro mobile app is the preferred choice of private traders who wish to make trades on-the-go. It might not be the best for institutional traders with more complex portfolios, since they need more real estate to handle multiple orders.
eToro Fees and Commissions on Microsoft (MSFT) Stocks
There are no commissions associated with trading on eToro. However, there are many fees you are likely to pay when you buy Microsoft stocks on eToro, depending on the method of trading you use. All fees on eToro can be broadly categorized into two: trading and non-trading fees.
Trading Fees
Trading fees are fees you pay only when you directly trade assets on the broker. You cannot get charged trading fees when you leave your account dormant. Examples of trading fees on eToro are:
Spread: This is the difference between the price you buy a share and the price you sell it. This is one of the most common ways investment platforms charge traders. On eToro, every position is subject to: The market spread (determined by the market, not by eToro), and a markup charged by eToro when you open and close the position.
Overnight Fees: Overnight fees are charged when you hold a leveraged position overnight. Sometimes referred to as “rollover fees”, they help finance interests on loans taken when a CFD trader holds a leverage position.
Rollover fees in eToro are charged at 17:00 New York time (00:00 GMT). This means that if you close a leverage position before this time, you won’t be charged a rollover fee. Closing a leverage position after this time means that you will be charged an overnight fee for the full day. eToro doesn’t charge overnight fees on weekends and holidays.
Non-Trading Fees
Non-trading fees are fees you pay when you don’t directly trade. Some common examples of non-trading fees you are likely to incur when buying Microsoft shares on eToro are:
Conversion Fees: The conversion fee on eToro is the fee you pay when you make deposits or withdrawals on your trading account using a currency other than the US Dollar. This fee applies only to supported currencies like GB Pounds, Euros, Chinese Yuan, etc. However, if you deposit or withdraw using an unsupported currency, any fee for converting to or from USD is charged by your payment provider, not by eToro. You can learn more about conversion fees on the broker’s website.
Withdrawal Fee: eToro charges a flat $5 fee when you withdraw from your trading account. There is no mandatory minimum withdrawal amount, and the fee applies to any amount you withdraw. The withdrawal fee is always charged in dollars, no matter the currency you use when withdrawing.
Inactivity Fee: This is a fee you pay if you leave your trading account dormant for 12 months or more on eToro. This is to cover account maintenance fees and encourage active trading. If you don’t log into your account after 12 months, a $10 monthly fee will be charged from your trading account. Payment of this fee will cease as soon as you log into your account again.
Payment Methods You Can Use to Buy Microsoft (MSFT) Stocks on eToro
eToro offers a variety of payment methods that you can use to buy Microsoft (MSFT) stocks. They include:
- Debit cards and Credit cards (examples include Mastercard, Visa, and American Express)
- Paypal
- Bank Wire (SEPA, SWIFT, and Faster Payments.)
- Skrill
- Neteller
Other less common payment methods on eToro are eToro Money, MuchBetter, Klarna/Sofort, and Trustly.
Stock Trading on eToro
eToro is known as one of the best stock trading platforms in the world. Its trading platform is easy to use and has all required tools for detailed trading and fundamental analysis. It also takes some measures to ensure smooth stock trading. Some of these measures are:
Leverage on Stock CFDs: eToro offers leverage on stock CFDs, which means that you can trade with more money than you actually have. This can greatly magnify your profits, but it can also magnify your losses. The amount of leverage you have on a stock varies, but it can be up to 1:5.
Minimum Stocks to Buy: eToro doesn’t have a set minimum number of stocks you must buy. It does, however, have a minimum amount of money you can deposit to buy a stock: $10. Since stocks like Microsoft are more expensive than this minimum amount, you have to spend a little more to buy them.
Fractional Shares: eToro allows you to buy fractional shares, which means that you can buy a portion of a share. This is a great way to invest in stocks like Microsoft that are too expensive to buy in full. It is important to note that with fractional shares, you waive your stock’s voting power.
CopyTrader: This is a feature offered by eToro that allows you to copy the trades of other traders. This means that you can automatically invest in the same assets as the traders you are copying. CopyTrader is a popular tool for people who are new to trading or who do not have the time to manage their own portfolios. It is also a good way to learn from other traders and to get exposure to different asset classes.
Education: eToro offers a comprehensive educational platform that covers all aspects of trading and investing. The platform includes a variety of resources, including articles, videos, webinars, courses, and trading simulator. On this platform, you will learn how to invest in stocks, how to navigate the platform, how to manage risks, etc.
What Reddit and Quora Say About Buying Microsoft (MSFT) Stocks on eToro
We went through posts on Reddit and Quora to see what traders thought about how to buy Microsoft (MSFT) stocks on eToro.
As one of the biggest social communities online, Reddit has hundreds of thousands of users who are interested in trading important stocks like Microsoft. We went through some threads on the platform to see what Redditors said about buying Microsoft stocks. The first thread we saw was on r/stocks. A Redditor wanted to know if buying shares in Microsoft was a good idea in 2023. They (the Redditor) believes that Microsoft Copilot and GPT-4 could have a positive impact on Microsoft’s stock price, and wanted to know what others thought about it.
Another Redditor agreed, stating that they believe that the Office with AI tool is a big step in improving productivity, and that this tool could be the reason why MSFT stocks will soar in the coming years.
On another thread, one Redditor wanted to know if they should trade with eToro, as they had seen some bad reviews online.
However, several other Redditors stated that they’ve had good experiences trading on the eToro platform, with some traders stating that they’ve traded for over 4 years with the broker.
Quora
Quora, like Reddit, has hundreds of thousands of users interested in trading blue chip and other kinds of stocks. We went through posts on Quora to see what users thought about how to buy Microsoft (MSFT) stocks on eToro.
In the first post we came across, the poster wanted to learn how to buy Microsoft shares. Two Quora users responded to the poster’s question, explaining that they (the poster) had to register an account with a broker and buy through the broker.
In another post, a user detailed his experiences with eToro, which he said had been great so far. He explained that he loved the fact that there was no commission, and he enjoyed the CopyTrader feature. He encouraged others to try it out.
Bottom Line
Microsoft is a leader in computer software and its stocks are highly sought-after by investors all over the world. In this guide article, we were able to discuss how to buy Microsoft (MSFT) stocks on eToro, including all the steps required, the payment methods available, the trading fees, and everything a trader needs to know to pull this off.
While Microsoft shares are more reliable and stable than most, trading them still involves a level of risk. It is therefore important that traders do their own research before trading Microsoft shares.
Q & A
eToro is a well-regulated broker. It is regulated by several financial authorities, including: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Seychelles.
Yes, eToro offers real shares, as well as CFDs to interested traders.
The minimum amount required to buy Microsoft shares on eToro is $10, but you can buy more if you want.
Yes, you can trade Microsoft stocks as CFD on eToro.
Yes, eToro offers leverage on a variety of assets, including stocks, commodities, currencies, and indices.
To fund your trading account on eToro, log into your trading account from the eToro website. On the bottom left corner of your trading account, find a “Deposit Funds” button and click on it. There, you can choose the payment method you wish to use to fund your trading account.
eToro is a zero-commission broker, so it doesn’t charge commission on Microsoft stocks.
eToro fees on stocks are competitive relative to other stock brokers.
The current price of Microsoft shares on eToro is $316.48.
No, you cannot transfer your Microsoft shares to eToro. This is because eToro doesn’t allow the transfer of assets to and from another platform.
There are no annual charges on Microsoft shares on eToro. However, there are other trading and non-trading fees you have to pay when you trade shares on eToro.
Yes, you can buy Microsoft shares with margin on eToro.
To buy Microsoft shares with PayPal on eToro, log into your eToro account and click on “Deposit Funds” in the bottom left corner. Choose PayPal, enter your PayPal email address and verify the transaction. Then search for Microsoft, enter the amount of shares you wish to buy and click on “Open Trade”.
Yes, you can trade Microsoft shares on the eToro mobile app.
Yes, eToro offers CopyTrading on stocks.
As of February 2023, the largest Microsoft shareholder is Vanguard Group Inc., with an 8.38% share ownership.
Whether or not Microsoft shares are a good buy depends on your individual investment goals and risk tolerance. Microsoft is a large, well-established company with a strong track record of profitability. It is also expensive, so you have to decide if it is worth paying a premium for. Ultimately, the decision is yours.
eToro does not have a minimum number of shares required for purchase. It allows you to buy fractional shares. This means that you can buy a portion of a share, even if you do not have enough money to buy a full share.
To buy shares in Microsoft, you need to register with a trusted broker like eToro with access to the NASDAQ exchange. Search for MSFT on the broker’s trading platform and buy the number of shares you want.
The average yearly return on Microsoft stocks over the past 10 years is 27 to 28%.
