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

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) shares gapped up before the market opened 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 traded.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MSTR. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on MicroStrategy in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark upped their price target 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 decreased their price objective on MicroStrategy from $2,890.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BTIG Research upped their target price 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phong Le sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phong Le sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.20, for a total transaction of $423,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $912,152. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,838 shares of company stock worth $13,950,265 over the last 90 days. 13.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MicroStrategy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,553,048 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,647,263,000 after acquiring an additional 401,071 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in MicroStrategy by 1,077.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 343,164 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $57,857,000 after purchasing an additional 314,007 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MicroStrategy by 224,965.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,569 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $40,223,000 after purchasing an additional 238,463 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised 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 buying an additional 232,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 900.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 245,000 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,307,000 after buying an additional 220,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.03% of the company’s stock.

MicroStrategy Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $45.73 billion, a PE ratio of -122.36 and a beta of 3.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.19 and a 200-day moving average of $155.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software maker reported ($1.56) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $116.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($8.98) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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.