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

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 Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $428.64 and its 200 day moving average is $427.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $369.01 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in 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 often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.

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.