Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Unloaded Sen. Shelley Moore Capito

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) recently sold shares of Microsoft Co. NASDAQ: MSFT. In a filing disclosed on January 06th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on December 16th.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of General Electric NYSE: GE on 12/27/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of UnitedHealth Group NYSE: UNH on 12/20/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Lowe's Companies NYSE: LOW on 12/13/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO on 12/12/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Carlisle Companies NYSE: CSL on 10/8/2024.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $5.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $422.37. 18,115,708 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,061,641. The stock's 50-day moving average is $428.64 and its 200-day moving average is $427.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $369.01 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Microsoft by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,566,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $511.62.

About Senator Capito

Shelley Moore Capito (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from West Virginia. She assumed office on January 3, 2015. Her current term ends on January 3, 2027. Capito (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent West Virginia. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020. Capito was first elected to the Senate in 2014, becoming the first female U.S. Senator in the state's history. Prior to serving in the Senate, Capito was a member of the West Virginia House of Representatives from 1997 to 2001 and a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2015. At the start of the 116th Congress, Capito was a member of the U.S. Senate committees on Appropriations, Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Environment and Public Works, and Rules and Administration. As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, Capito is a more moderate right of center Republican Party vote. As a result, she may break with the Republican Party line more than her fellow members. Capito earned her bachelor's degree from Duke University. After earning her M.Ed. from the University of Virginia, Capito was a college counselor and then director of an educational information center. She was the only Republican in the West Virginia congressional delegation until the 2010 elections and is the first Republican woman elected to Congress from West Virginia. Capito is a former chairwoman of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, as well as a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus. After an explosion responsible for the death of 29 coal workers, Capito founded the Congressional Coal Caucus. Prior to her election to the U.S. House, Capito served in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

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.