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

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $450.00. The stock had previously closed at $430.54, but opened at $463.40. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. MicroStrategy shares last traded at $477.00, with a volume of 18,557,154 shares traded.

MSTR has been the subject of several other reports. Maxim Group upped their target price on MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of MicroStrategy from $173.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $2,890.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on MicroStrategy from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MicroStrategy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MicroStrategy news, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total value of $6,624,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,344.60. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Kang sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.15, for a total value of $1,465,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,106,372. This trade represents a 32.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 82,000 shares of company stock valued at $23,231,977. Company insiders own 13.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MicroStrategy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSTR. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 575 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in MicroStrategy in the first quarter valued at approximately $309,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 23.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. American International Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 7,326 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $12,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,374 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 72.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MicroStrategy Stock Up 10.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $96.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -224.88 and a beta of 3.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $222.94 and a 200-day moving average of $172.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

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

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.