MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $408.67, but opened at $424.87. MicroStrategy shares last traded at $417.24, with a volume of 6,876,475 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSTR shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on MicroStrategy from $392.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on MicroStrategy from $275.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of MicroStrategy in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on MicroStrategy in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Maxim Group increased their price objective on MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MicroStrategy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $479.25.

MicroStrategy Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $86.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -201.09 and a beta of 3.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $303.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.58.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software maker reported ($1.56) earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($8.98) EPS. MicroStrategy’s revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Activity at MicroStrategy

In other MicroStrategy news, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 56,250 shares of MicroStrategy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.41, for a total transaction of $14,479,312.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,514.70. This trade represents a 90.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Kang sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.15, for a total transaction of $1,465,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,106,372. The trade was a 32.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 102,000 shares of company stock valued at $32,259,177. 13.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MicroStrategy by 990.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,512,645 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 587.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 664,261 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $111,994,000 after acquiring an additional 567,628 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $107,855,000 after acquiring an additional 579,994 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 904.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 468,200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $78,939,000 after acquiring an additional 421,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $57,857,000 after acquiring an additional 314,007 shares during the last quarter. 59.84% of the stock is owned by 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.