MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Stock Price Up 6.9% – Should You Buy?

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)’s share price rose 6.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $392.61 and last traded at $392.43. Approximately 8,928,599 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 18,666,912 shares. The stock had previously closed at $367.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

MicroStrategy Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $94.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -187.42 and a beta of 3.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $361.34 and a 200 day moving average of $232.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($1.44). The firm had revenue of $116.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.45 million. MicroStrategy had a negative net margin of 87.05% and a negative return on equity of 17.31%. MicroStrategy’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($8.98) EPS.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MicroStrategy news, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 56,250 shares of MicroStrategy 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. The trade was a 90.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,344.60. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 102,000 shares of company stock worth $32,259,177. 9.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MicroStrategy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSTR. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,512,645 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 587.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 664,261 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $111,994,000 after buying an additional 567,628 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 971.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 639,707 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $107,855,000 after acquiring an additional 579,994 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 904.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 468,200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $78,939,000 after acquiring an additional 421,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in MicroStrategy by 1,077.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 343,164 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $57,857,000 after acquiring an additional 314,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.84% of the company’s stock.

About MicroStrategy

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.