There is so much misinformation out there. MSFT was NEVER a penny stock. The orginal IPO in 1986 was $21.00/share. Since the IPO at $21.00 the stock as split 9 times.
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://blog.seattlepi.com/
First off, I do not trade penny stocks. They are a waste of money in my opinion. But every penny stock trader always says "the next microsoft is out there." Could you buy a penny stock that skyrockets...sure...but not likely.
Most people just look at the chart and assume MSFT was orginally a penny stock. However, what they do not realize is that charts are adjusted for splits. This is the reason the charts make it look like a penny stock, even though it never was.
Lets do the math. 5/14/09 closing price was $20.06.
$20.06 / 2 = $10.03
$10.03 / 2 = $5.015
$5.015 / 1.5 = $3.343
$3.343 / 1.5 = $2.229
$2.229 / 2 = $1.114
$1.114 / 2 = $0.557
$0.557 / 2 = $0.279
$0.279 / 2 = $0.139
$0.139 / 2 = $0.067 - This is the price equivent due to the number of shares currently outstanding.

Splits:
21-Sep-87 [2:1]
16-Apr-90 [2:1]
27-Jun-91 [3:2]
15-Jun-92 [3:2]
23-May-94 [2:1]
09-Dec-96 [2:1]
23-Feb-98 [2:1]
29-Mar-99 [2:1]
18-Feb-03 [2:1]