Rep. Pete Sessions Purchases Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas) recently bought shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT). In a filing disclosed on December 19th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on December 18th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “TRUST ONE” account.

Representative Pete Sessions also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) on 11/1/2024.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $436.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $427.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.32.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% in the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,137,000 after buying an additional 42,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Harbor Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 55.9% during the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

About Representative SESSIONS

Pete Sessions (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Texas’ 17th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2021. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Sessions (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Texas’ 17th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 5, 2024. Pete Sessions was born and lives in Waco, Texas. Sessions earned a B.S. from Southwestern University in 1978. Sessions’ career experience includes working as an executive with AT&T.

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.