MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Trading 2.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) shares rose 2.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $390.20 and last traded at $386.85. Approximately 8,832,033 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 19,421,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $377.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on MicroStrategy from $275.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Maxim Group raised their target price on MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of MicroStrategy in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $392.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of MicroStrategy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MicroStrategy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $479.25.

MicroStrategy Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $84.76 billion, a PE ratio of -167.85 and a beta of 3.25. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $367.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.68.

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

Insider Activity at MicroStrategy

In related news, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 56,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.41, for a total value of $14,479,312.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,514.70. This trade represents a 90.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total value of $6,624,180.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,344.60. The trade was a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,000 shares of company stock worth $32,259,177 over the last three months. 9.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in MicroStrategy by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 150 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 2,900.0% in the third quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of MicroStrategy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in MicroStrategy by 900.0% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 170 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.84% of the company’s stock.

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.