Rep. David Taylor Buys Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock

Representative David Taylor (R-Ohio) recently bought shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). In a filing disclosed on January 21st, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on January 8th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “DAVID TAYLOR TRUST > SCHWAB JOINT BROKERAGE #1 (HOME GROWN)” account.

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

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) on 1/9/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) on 1/8/2026.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) on 1/8/2026.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) on 1/8/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) on 1/8/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) on 12/10/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) on 12/10/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Eaton (NYSE:ETN) on 12/10/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) on 12/3/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 12/3/2025.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $450.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $479.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $501.40. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: High-visibility marketing + product partnership — Microsoft announced a multi-year technology and sponsorship deal with the Mercedes‑AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, raising brand exposure for Azure and AI capabilities and signaling enterprise demand for cloud/AI partnerships. Mercedes reveal images, announce Microsoft deal
• Positive Sentiment: Government win — Microsoft landed a roughly $170M Air Force Cloud One task order for Azure through 2028, validating Azure’s government demand and recurring-revenue profile. Defense contracts reduce revenue uncertainty and support cloud backlog visibility. Air Force awards $170M Cloud One contract
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional conviction — Activist/hedge investors (Third Point’s Dan Loeb) increased stakes in Microsoft, signaling belief in MSFT’s AI/cloud growth despite 2025 volatility. That buying can support the stock ahead of earnings. Billionaire investor doubles down on AI, boosts stakes
• Positive Sentiment: Consumer/engagement catalyst — Xbox Developer_Direct presentation lifted sentiment around gaming/content growth and monetization opportunities for Microsoft’s consumer franchises. Xbox Developer_Direct 2026 coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed but generally constructive — Several firms reiterated Buy/Overweight ratings (Jefferies, Guggenheim, Wells Fargo) even as price targets were trimmed in places, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI/cloud upside but acknowledgement of near‑term risks. Jefferies buy rating
• Negative Sentiment: Service outage hit — A Microsoft 365/Outlook outage disrupted access to email, files and meetings for thousands of users, creating immediate operational risk for enterprise customers and short‑term headline pressure on trust in cloud reliability. Microsoft 365 outage report
• Negative Sentiment: Margin and earnings concerns — Analysts and commentaries flagged cloud/AI margins as a key “tripwire” into the upcoming fiscal Q2 results; higher data‑center power and capacity costs could pressure near‑term margins if revenue mix doesn’t improve. That is weighing on the stock into earnings. Cloud margins are the tripwire ahead of FQ2
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst cuts/downgrades — A few shops trimmed price targets or signaled range‑bound outlooks (Rothschild, TD Cowen, others), which feeds short‑term selling pressure given MSFT’s recent pullback. Rothschild price target cut

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $655.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $620.79.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% 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, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Representative Taylor

David Taylor (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Taylor (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

David Taylor graduated from Amelia High School. Taylor earned degrees from Miami University (Ohio) and the University of Dayton School of Law. Taylor’s career experience includes working as an attorney and as a businessman at Sardinia Ready Mix, Inc.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).