Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Purchases Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) recently bought shares of Microsoft Co. NASDAQ: MSFT. In a filing disclosed on October 22nd, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on October 21st.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Caterpillar NYSE: CAT on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Visa NYSE: V on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Berkshire Hathaway NYSE: BRK.B on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Tesla NASDAQ: TSLA on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of ASML NASDAQ: ASML on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Home Depot NYSE: HD on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Nestlé OTCMKTS: NSRGY on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Intel NASDAQ: INTC on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Blackstone NYSE: BX on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Costco Wholesale NASDAQ: COST on 10/4/2024.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MSFT traded down $2.91 on Wednesday, reaching $424.60. The stock had a trading volume of 19,575,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,291,211. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.56. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $326.94 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $495.58.

About Representative Greene

Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Georgia's 14th Congressional District. She assumed office on January 3, 2021. Her current term ends on January 3, 2025. Greene (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Georgia's 14th Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Marjorie Taylor Greene earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Georgia. Greene's career experience includes co-owning construction company Taylor Commercial and founding and owning a CrossFit gym.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.