Rep. Pete Sessions Buys Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares

Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas) recently bought shares of Microsoft Co. NASDAQ: MSFT. In a filing disclosed on December 19th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on December 18th. The trade occurred in the Representative's "TRUST ONE" account.

Representative Pete Sessions also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA on 11/1/2024.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

Microsoft stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $436.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 54,224,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,730,301. The stock's fifty day moving average is $427.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $366.50 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $508.46.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock worth $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% in the third quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,137,000 after buying an additional 42,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Harbor Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% during the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant's stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Representative SESSIONS

Pete Sessions (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Texas' 17th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2021. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Sessions (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 17th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 5, 2024. Pete Sessions was born and lives in Waco, Texas. Sessions earned a B.S. from Southwestern University in 1978. Sessions' career experience includes working as an executive with AT&T.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.