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

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) shares shot up 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. 29,654,531 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 70% from the average session volume of 17,428,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $430.54.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MSTR. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price 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. Barclays boosted their target price on MicroStrategy from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on MicroStrategy in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 price objective on the stock. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.88.

Insider Transactions at MicroStrategy

In other news, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 752 shares of MicroStrategy stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.45, for a total value of $242,482.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,069,484.10. This trade represents a 10.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phong Le sold 1,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.45, for a total value of $403,707.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,487,859.10. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,000 shares of company stock valued at $30,569,577 over the last 90 days. 13.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MicroStrategy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MicroStrategy by 990.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,766,283 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $465,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,512,645 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 971.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 639,707 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $107,855,000 after purchasing an additional 579,994 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MicroStrategy by 587.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 664,261 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $111,994,000 after purchasing an additional 567,628 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in MicroStrategy by 904.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 468,200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $78,939,000 after buying an additional 421,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $57,857,000 after buying an additional 314,007 shares in the last quarter. 72.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MicroStrategy Stock Up 14.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of -235.77 and a beta of 3.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.24.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $116.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.45 million. MicroStrategy had a negative return on equity of 17.31% and a negative net margin of 87.05%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($8.98) earnings per share.

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.