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

Shares of MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after BTIG Research raised their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $570.00. The stock had previously closed at $430.54, but opened at $463.40. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. MicroStrategy shares last traded at $477.00, with a volume of 18,557,154 shares traded.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped 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. Maxim Group raised their price objective on MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. TD Cowen lifted their price target on MicroStrategy from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on MicroStrategy in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 price objective for the company. One research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.13.

Insider Transactions at MicroStrategy

In related news, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total transaction of $6,624,180.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,344.60. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 56,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.41, for a total value of $14,479,312.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,514.70. This trade represents a 90.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,000 shares of company stock worth $23,231,977 over the last 90 days. 13.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in MicroStrategy by 13.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 50 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in MicroStrategy by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 30 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New grew its holdings in MicroStrategy by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 164 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in MicroStrategy by 2.8% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 400 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,515 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,219,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 72.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.52 billion, a PE ratio of -183.65 and a beta of 3.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $228.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.86.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $116.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($8.98) earnings per share. MicroStrategy’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis.

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.