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

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) recently sold shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT). In a filing disclosed on February 13th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on January 17th.

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

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Chubb (NYSE:CB) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) on 1/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on 1/3/2025.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $410.54 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $430.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BCK Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conscious Wealth Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% 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.

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.