Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold Sen. Shelley Moore Capito

Key Points

• Senator Shelley Moore Capito sold between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares on September 18, making this notable as part of recent insider trading activities.
• Microsoft recently announced a dividend increase to $0.91 per share, with the dividend payout scheduled for December 11, reflecting a strong annualized yield of 0.7%.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Microsoft, with several firms now projecting a target price as high as $710.00, indicating a strong bullish sentiment surrounding the company's performance.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) recently sold shares of Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT. In a filing disclosed on October 05th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $15,001 and $50,000 in Microsoft stock on September 18th.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Apple NASDAQ: AAPL on 9/18/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of BlackRock NYSE: BLK on 8/4/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Prologis NYSE: PLD on 8/1/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Sherwin-Williams NYSE: SHW on 8/1/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Colgate-Palmolive NYSE: CL on 7/31/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of General Dynamics NYSE: GD on 7/31/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of PPG Industries NYSE: PPG on 7/31/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of PPG Industries NYSE: PPG on 7/30/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META on 7/29/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL on 7/29/2025.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $517.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's fifty day moving average is $512.83 and its 200-day moving average is $467.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the first quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $54,376,000 after purchasing an additional 40,860 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,210 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,042,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 86,477 shares of the software giant's stock worth $32,463,000 after purchasing an additional 6,617 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Arete upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Melius Research boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.63.

About Senator Capito

Shelley Moore Capito (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from West Virginia. She assumed office on January 3, 2015. Her current term ends on January 3, 2027. Capito (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent West Virginia. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020. Capito was first elected to the Senate in 2014, becoming the first female U.S. Senator in the state's history. Prior to serving in the Senate, Capito was a member of the West Virginia House of Representatives from 1997 to 2001 and a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2015. At the start of the 116th Congress, Capito was a member of the U.S. Senate committees on Appropriations, Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Environment and Public Works, and Rules and Administration. As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, Capito is a more moderate right of center Republican Party vote. As a result, she may break with the Republican Party line more than her fellow members. Capito earned her bachelor's degree from Duke University. After earning her M.Ed. from the University of Virginia, Capito was a college counselor and then director of an educational information center. She was the only Republican in the West Virginia congressional delegation until the 2010 elections and is the first Republican woman elected to Congress from West Virginia. Capito is a former chairwoman of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, as well as a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus. After an explosion responsible for the death of 29 coal workers, Capito founded the Congressional Coal Caucus. Prior to her election to the U.S. House, Capito served in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.