MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $225.00 to $275.00. The stock had previously closed at $222.99, but opened at $233.34. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MicroStrategy shares last traded at $241.50, with a volume of 3,148,390 shares changing hands.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Benchmark increased their target price on MicroStrategy from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on MicroStrategy from $2,890.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of MicroStrategy in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of MicroStrategy from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MicroStrategy news, CEO Phong Le sold 48,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.40, for a total value of $6,612,665.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,518. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.20, for a total transaction of $423,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,152. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phong Le sold 48,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.40, for a total value of $6,612,665.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,715,518. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,838 shares of company stock worth $13,950,265. Insiders own 13.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MicroStrategy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSTR. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in MicroStrategy in the 1st quarter valued at about $377,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of MicroStrategy in the first quarter valued at about $806,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in MicroStrategy by 16.8% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $5,487,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. ClariVest Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in MicroStrategy in the 1st quarter worth about $3,356,000. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in MicroStrategy by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 72.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MicroStrategy Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.75. The stock has a market cap of $40.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.96 and a beta of 3.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software maker reported ($1.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($1.44). The company had revenue of $116.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.45 million. MicroStrategy had a negative return on equity of 17.31% and a negative net margin of 87.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($8.98) EPS.

About MicroStrategy

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.