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

Microsoft stock opened at $436.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $427.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $428.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after acquiring an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 35,888 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 232.5% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 89,032 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $37,458,000 after purchasing an additional 62,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kahn Brothers Group Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.