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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $409.17. The stock had a trading volume of 7,121,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,788,174. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $430.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.1% during 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,675,715,000 after buying an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.