MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Stock Price Up 15.4% After Analyst Upgrade

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)’s share price rose 15.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $450.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. MicroStrategy traded as high as $499.35 and last traded at $496.77. Approximately 29,654,531 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 70% from the average daily volume of 17,428,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $430.54.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MicroStrategy from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of MicroStrategy in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 price target for the company. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $2,890.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.88.

Insider Activity

In other MicroStrategy news, CEO Phong Le sold 1,252 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.45, for a total transaction of $403,707.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,918 shares in the company, valued at $4,487,859.10. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 56,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.41, for a total transaction of $14,479,312.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,514.70. The trade was a 90.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,000 shares of company stock valued at $23,231,977. 13.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MicroStrategy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in MicroStrategy by 10,398.4% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 224,245 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $37,808,000 after buying an additional 222,109 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in MicroStrategy by 1,063.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,740 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,814,000 after buying an additional 9,817 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in MicroStrategy by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in MicroStrategy by 881.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 19,809 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,340,000 after buying an additional 17,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in MicroStrategy by 353.5% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,349 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. 72.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MicroStrategy Stock Up 10.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $96.02 billion, a PE ratio of -224.88 and a beta of 3.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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 released 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). MicroStrategy had a negative net margin of 87.05% and a negative return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $116.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($8.98) EPS. MicroStrategy’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.