MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Benchmark Analyst Says

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Benchmark from $245.00 to $300.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the software maker’s stock. Benchmark’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.18% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MSTR. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on MicroStrategy in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on MicroStrategy from $2,890.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $173.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.50.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSTR traded down $1.77 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $245.54. 7,203,738 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,512,213. MicroStrategy has a 12 month low of $41.01 and a 12 month high of $267.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.28. The firm has a market cap of $43.55 billion, a PE ratio of -176.85 and a beta of 3.11.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $116.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.45 million. MicroStrategy had a negative net margin of 43.69% and a negative return on equity of 14.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($8.98) earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling at MicroStrategy

In other news, CEO Phong Le sold 48,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.40, for a total value of $6,612,665.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,518. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Phong Le sold 48,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.40, for a total value of $6,612,665.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,518. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,152. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,838 shares of company stock worth $13,950,265. Insiders own 13.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MicroStrategy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSTR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 34.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,553,048 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,647,263,000 after acquiring an additional 401,071 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MicroStrategy by 224,965.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,569 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $40,223,000 after purchasing an additional 238,463 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,791,564 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,053,828,000 after purchasing an additional 232,667 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 900.0% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 245,000 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $41,307,000 after purchasing an additional 220,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of MicroStrategy during the third quarter worth about $35,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.03% 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.