Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 41,209 Shares of MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR - Free Report) by 781.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,483 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 41,209 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in MicroStrategy were worth $7,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSTR. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 900.0% in 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 stake in 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 in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 170 shares of the software maker's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 900.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 210 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.20, for a total transaction of $423,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at $912,152. This represents a 31.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phong Le sold 1,252 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.45, for a total transaction of $403,707.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,918 shares in the company, valued at $4,487,859.10. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,000 shares of company stock worth $30,569,577 in the last three months. 13.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

Shares of MicroStrategy stock traded up $62.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $493.02. 46,740,367 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,521,582. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $216.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.24. The company has a market cap of $99.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -235.77 and a beta of 3.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. MicroStrategy Incorporated has a 1-year low of $43.87 and a 1-year high of $499.35.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software maker reported ($1.56) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. MicroStrategy's revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($8.98) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MSTR shares. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of MicroStrategy in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $194.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $173.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $289.88.

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.