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

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 Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $399.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $422.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.01. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,070,340. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.