Rep. William R. Keating Buys Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares

Representative William R. Keating (D-Massachusetts) recently bought shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT). In a filing disclosed on November 06th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on October 31st. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “BILL’S IRA” account.

Representative William R. Keating also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) on 10/31/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Amentum (NYSE:AMTM) on 10/31/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) on 10/31/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) on 10/31/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) on 9/11/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) on 9/11/2024.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $420.18 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $420.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.80. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $357.63 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.95 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Representative Keating

Bill Keating (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Massachusetts’ 9th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2013. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Keating (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Massachusetts’ 9th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Keating was first elected to the House in 2010 for Massachusetts’ 10th Congressional District but due to redistricting, he won re-election in Massachusetts’ 9th Congressional District on November 6, 2012. Prior to being elected to the House, Keating was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and a member of the Massachusetts State Senate. He also served as the Norfolk District Attorney. After earning his bachelor’s degree, Keating went into politics as a 23-year-old representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He served in that chamber for seven years and went on to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate. Keating also earned his master’s degree and J.D., passing the Massachusetts bar. In the decade between serving in the state senate and being elected to the U.S. House, Keating worked as the Norfolk district attorney.

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.