MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Shares Down 1% – Should You Sell?

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) shares were down 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $345.80 and last traded at $357.02. Approximately 5,165,152 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 18,768,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $360.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MSTR. Maxim Group raised their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of MicroStrategy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on MicroStrategy from $300.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of MicroStrategy in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on MicroStrategy from $275.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $479.25.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $359.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $231.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $86.53 billion, a PE ratio of -171.82 and a beta of 3.25.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). MicroStrategy had a negative net margin of 87.05% and a negative return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $116.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($8.98) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity at MicroStrategy

In related news, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 56,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 5,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,514.70. This represents a 90.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 18,000 shares of MicroStrategy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,344.60. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 102,000 shares of company stock valued at $32,259,177. 9.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MicroStrategy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in MicroStrategy by 20.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,098 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,890,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in MicroStrategy during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,157,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in MicroStrategy by 159.7% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 470 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in MicroStrategy by 1,371.0% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 456 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MicroStrategy in the second quarter valued at approximately $303,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.84% of the company’s stock.

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.