MicroStrategy’s (MSTR) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $650.00 target price on the software maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of MicroStrategy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $275.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on MicroStrategy from $300.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $392.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MicroStrategy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $479.25.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSTR opened at $342.17 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $355.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -162.40 and a beta of 3.25. MicroStrategy has a one year low of $43.87 and a one year high of $543.00. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software maker reported ($1.56) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($1.44). MicroStrategy had a negative return on equity of 17.31% and a negative net margin of 87.05%. The company had revenue of $116.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($8.98) EPS. MicroStrategy’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Buying and Selling at MicroStrategy

In related news, CFO Andrew Kang sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.15, for a total value of $1,465,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,106,372. This represents a 32.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Stephen X. Graham sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.36, for a total transaction of $9,027,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,145,979.20. This represents a 74.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,000 shares of company stock worth $32,259,177. Company insiders own 13.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MicroStrategy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSTR. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,512,645 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in MicroStrategy by 971.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 639,707 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $107,855,000 after buying an additional 579,994 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in MicroStrategy by 587.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in MicroStrategy by 904.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 468,200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $78,939,000 after buying an additional 421,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in MicroStrategy by 1,077.0% during 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 buying an additional 314,007 shares in the last quarter. 59.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.