Sen. Shelley Moore Capito Sells Off Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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 Up 1.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $428.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $427.95. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $369.01 and a 52-week high of $468.35. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.