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

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 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $512.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $467.74. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $617.63.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Seek First Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors raised its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.