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

Representative William R. Keating (D-Massachusetts) recently bought shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT). In a filing disclosed on February 25th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on February 5th. 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 Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) on 2/5/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) on 2/5/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Accenture (NYSE:ACN) on 2/5/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) on 1/24/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) on 1/24/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) on 1/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) on 1/7/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) on 1/7/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Fiserv (NYSE:FI) on 1/7/2025.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $399.73 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $422.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total value of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 51,852 shares in the company, valued at $22,675,916.64. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,070,340 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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, 2027.

Keating (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Massachusetts’ 9th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

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.

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.