Rep. Josh Gottheimer Sells Off Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares

Posted by Lorenzo Tanos on Dec 7th, 2024

Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) recently sold shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT). In a filing disclosed on December 05th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on November 12th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY – SELECT UMA ACCOUNT # 1” account.

Representative Josh Gottheimer also recently made the following trade(s):

Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) on 11/29/2024.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 11/27/2024.
Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) on 11/27/2024.
Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) on 11/27/2024.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 11/26/2024.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) on 11/26/2024.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) on 11/26/2024.
Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Eaton (NYSE:ETN) on 11/25/2024.
Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) on 11/22/2024.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) on 11/22/2024.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $443.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $421.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $364.13 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rebalance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The trade was a 10.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 98,578 shares of company stock valued at $40,553,696. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.36.

Read Our Latest Report on MSFT

About Representative Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2017. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Gottheimer was first elected to the House in 2016. Prior to his election, Gottheimer worked for Microsoft, the Federal Communications Commission, and for the administration of President Bill Clinton (D). Click here for more information about Gottheimer’s career. Gottheimer serves on the House Financial Services Committee, where is a member of three subcommittees. For more on Gottheimer’s committee assignments, click here. Gottheimer became a co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus in February 2017. Gottheimer attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree. He became a Thouron Fellow at Oxford and attended Harvard Law School. Gottheimer worked as a speech writer under former President Bill Clinton (D), assisting with two State of the Union addresses, among other projects. Before running for Congress, he worked for Microsoft as a general manager for corporate strategy.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.