MicroStrategy’s (MSTR) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at Benchmark in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $650.00 price objective on the software maker’s stock. Benchmark’s target price indicates a potential upside of 89.53% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MSTR. Barclays lifted their price objective on MicroStrategy from $275.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on MicroStrategy from $300.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of MicroStrategy from $392.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of MicroStrategy from $290.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of MicroStrategy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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.com, MicroStrategy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $479.25.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

NASDAQ MSTR traded up $14.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $342.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,272,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,486,229. 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 has a 1-year low of $43.87 and a 1-year high of $543.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $355.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -162.77 and a beta of 3.25.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software maker reported ($1.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($1.44). The business had revenue of $116.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($8.98) EPS.

Insider Activity at MicroStrategy

In other news, Director Stephen X. Graham sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 owns 6,970 shares in the company, valued at $3,145,979.20. This represents a 74.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.45, for a total transaction of $242,482.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,418 shares in the company, valued at $2,069,484.10. This represents a 10.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,000 shares of company stock valued at $32,259,177 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MicroStrategy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 2,512,645 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in MicroStrategy by 971.3% during the third 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 buying an additional 579,994 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 587.4% in the third 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. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of MicroStrategy by 904.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 468,200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $78,939,000 after purchasing an additional 421,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MicroStrategy by 1,077.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 343,164 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $57,857,000 after acquiring an additional 314,007 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.84% of the company’s stock.

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.