MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Shares Up 4.4% After Analyst Upgrade

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)’s stock price shot up 4.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after BTIG Research raised their price target on the stock from $620.00 to $700.00. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. MicroStrategy traded as high as $385.82 and last traded at $382.82. 4,728,963 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 15,667,694 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.63.

MSTR has been the subject of several other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on MicroStrategy from $614.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $590.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MicroStrategy in a report on Monday, July 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on MicroStrategy from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays reissued a “hold” rating on shares of MicroStrategy in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MicroStrategy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $546.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carl J. Rickertsen sold 26,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.40, for a total transaction of $9,827,636.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,952. The trade was a 96.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 43,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.54, for a total value of $18,836,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,606 shares in the company, valued at $3,705,227.24. The trade was a 83.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 268,132 shares of company stock worth $24,169,295 and have sold 171,771 shares worth $70,078,474. Company insiders own 8.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSTR. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in MicroStrategy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 71,048 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $20,577,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in MicroStrategy by 227.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,891 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 9,643 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 130.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 120 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of MicroStrategy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Finally, Prudential PLC grew its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 3,559 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after buying an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. 59.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MicroStrategy Trading Up 6.2%

The firm has a market cap of $106.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26 and a beta of 3.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $395.41 and a 200 day moving average of $352.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.68.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The software maker reported $32.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $32.72. The business had revenue of $114.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.68 million. MicroStrategy had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 1,036.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($5.74) EPS.

MicroStrategy Company Profile

Strategy Incorporated, formerly known as MicroStrategy, provides artificial intelligence-powered enterprise analytics software and services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers Strategy ONE, a platform that allows non-technical users to access novel and actionable insights for decision-making, and Strategy Cloud for Government, which provides always-on threat monitoring designed to meet the strict technical and regulatory standards of governments and financial institutions.