MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Shares Up 15.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR - Get Free Report) traded up 15.4% during trading on Wednesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $450.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. MicroStrategy traded as high as $499.35 and last traded at $496.77. 29,654,531 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 70% from the average session volume of 17,428,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $430.54.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on MicroStrategy from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of MicroStrategy from $2,890.00 to $290.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Maxim Group boosted their price target on MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on MicroStrategy from $173.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $289.88.

Insider Activity at MicroStrategy

In other MicroStrategy news, CEO Phong Le sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.28, for a total transaction of $6,914,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,752,007.60. This trade represents a 79.78 % 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, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,459,514.70. The trade was a 90.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,000 shares of company stock worth $30,569,577. 13.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MicroStrategy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSTR. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in MicroStrategy by 10,398.4% during the third 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. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 1,063.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,740 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 9,817 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 881.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 19,809 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,340,000 after buying an additional 17,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 353.5% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,349 shares of the software maker's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. 72.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MicroStrategy Stock Up 10.1 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $222.94 and a 200-day moving average of $172.36. The stock has a market cap of $96.02 billion, a PE ratio of -224.88 and a beta of 3.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software maker reported ($1.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($1.44). The company had revenue of $116.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.45 million. MicroStrategy had a negative return on equity of 17.31% and a negative net margin of 87.05%. The firm's revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($8.98) earnings per share.

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.