Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR)

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 280,081 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 37% compared to the average daily volume of 204,837 call options.

Insider Activity at MicroStrategy

In other MicroStrategy news, CEO Phong Le sold 50,000 shares of MicroStrategy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.28, for a total transaction of $6,914,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,752,007.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Phong Le sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.28, for a total transaction of $6,914,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,752,007.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.20, for a total transaction of $423,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $912,152. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,838 shares of company stock worth $13,950,265. 13.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in MicroStrategy by 900.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 150 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 2,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of MicroStrategy during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 170 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.03% of the company’s stock.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSTR traded down $3.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $267.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,570,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,674,732. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $47.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -131.40 and a beta of 3.05. MicroStrategy has a fifty-two week low of $43.87 and a fifty-two week high of $280.80.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software maker reported ($1.56) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($1.44). The firm had revenue of $116.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.45 million. MicroStrategy had a negative net margin of 87.05% and a negative return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($8.98) EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSTR shares. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $173.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on MicroStrategy in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on MicroStrategy from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One 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, MicroStrategy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.13.

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.