MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $332.23, but opened at $343.50. MicroStrategy shares last traded at $350.64, with a volume of 4,988,469 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSTR shares. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $290.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MicroStrategy from $275.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of MicroStrategy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of MicroStrategy from $450.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MicroStrategy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $479.25.

MicroStrategy Stock Up 5.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $83.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -166.19 and a beta of 3.17. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $323.66 and its 200-day moving average is $210.02.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew Kang sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.15, for a total transaction of $1,465,755.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,106,372. This trade represents a 32.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total transaction of $6,624,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,344.60. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 102,000 shares of company stock valued at $32,259,177. 13.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSTR. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in MicroStrategy by 746.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 20,647 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,481,000 after purchasing an additional 18,207 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in MicroStrategy in the 3rd quarter valued at $254,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 979.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,727 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 6,104 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in MicroStrategy by 782.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,255 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 3,773 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 222,109 shares in the last quarter. 59.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.