MicroStrategy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:MSTR)

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 560,433 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 291% compared to the typical daily volume of 143,383 call options.

Insider Activity at MicroStrategy

In related news, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 3,000 shares of MicroStrategy stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $912,152. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.20, for a total value of $423,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $912,152. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Phong Le sold 48,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,838 shares of company stock worth $13,950,265. Company insiders own 13.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MicroStrategy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSTR. American International Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 6,072 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,835,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,151,977 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $727,612,000 after acquiring an additional 24,997 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in MicroStrategy by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 124 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in MicroStrategy in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in MicroStrategy by 109.3% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 829 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.03% of the company’s stock.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

Shares of MSTR opened at $215.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market cap of $38.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.22 and a beta of 3.11. MicroStrategy has a 52 week low of $32.81 and a 52 week high of $227.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $151.88 and a 200-day moving average of $147.65.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The software maker reported ($0.57) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.48). MicroStrategy had a negative net margin of 43.69% and a negative return on equity of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $111.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSTR shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $173.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on MicroStrategy in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark raised their price objective on MicroStrategy from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on MicroStrategy from $2,890.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on MicroStrategy from $185.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.50.

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.