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

Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) recently sold shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT). In a filing disclosed on February 10th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on January 21st. 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 Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on 1/31/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) on 1/31/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 1/30/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) on 1/30/2025.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $2.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $408.83. 10,366,523 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,908,555. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $430.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $423.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month 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.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after buying an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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, 2027.

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 2026 election.

Gottheimer is also running for election for Governor of New Jersey. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 10, 2025.

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.

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.