MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Trading 6.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)’s stock price rose 6.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $245.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. MicroStrategy traded as high as $208.07 and last traded at $206.02. Approximately 6,251,694 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 16,304,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.42.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MSTR. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on MicroStrategy from $185.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $2,890.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of MicroStrategy in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on MicroStrategy from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price objective on MicroStrategy from $183.50 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MicroStrategy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.50.

Insider Transactions at MicroStrategy

In related news, CEO Phong Le sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.28, for a total value of $6,914,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,752,007.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.20, for a total value of $423,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,152. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phong Le sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.28, for a total value of $6,914,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,752,007.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,838 shares of company stock worth $13,950,265. Corporate insiders own 13.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MicroStrategy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 14.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,791,564 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,053,828,000 after purchasing an additional 232,667 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MicroStrategy by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,553,048 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,647,263,000 after buying an additional 401,071 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in MicroStrategy by 827.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 225,531 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $38,025,000 after buying an additional 201,210 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its position in MicroStrategy by 990.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 160,668 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $27,089,000 after buying an additional 145,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 1,019.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 113,601 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $19,153,000 after acquiring an additional 103,454 shares during the period. 72.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MicroStrategy Trading Up 11.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $38.29 billion, a PE ratio of -32.22 and a beta of 3.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $151.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The software maker reported ($0.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.48). MicroStrategy had a negative return on equity of 14.72% and a negative net margin of 43.69%. The business had revenue of $111.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.99 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis.

MicroStrategy Company Profile

MicroStrategy Incorporated provides artificial intelligence-powered enterprise analytics software and services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers MicroStrategy ONE, which provides non-technical users with the ability to directly access novel and actionable insights for decision-making; and MicroStrategy Cloud for Government service, which offers always-on threat monitoring that meets the rigorous technical and regulatory needs of governments and financial institutions.