MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $367.00, but opened at $383.28. MicroStrategy shares last traded at $390.18, with a volume of 4,940,047 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Maxim Group upped their price target on MicroStrategy from $193.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of MicroStrategy in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $290.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of MicroStrategy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of MicroStrategy from $300.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $479.25.

MicroStrategy Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $93.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -184.91 and a beta of 3.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $361.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.27.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($8.98) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MicroStrategy news, CFO Andrew Kang sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.15, for a total transaction of $1,465,755.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,080 shares in the company, valued at $3,106,372. This represents a 32.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 56,250 shares of MicroStrategy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.41, for a total value of $14,479,312.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,514.70. The trade was a 90.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,000 shares of company stock worth $32,259,177 in the last three months. 9.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position 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 buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 2,900.0% during the third 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 acquired a new stake in MicroStrategy in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in MicroStrategy by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 59.84% of the stock is currently 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.