Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) by 781.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 46,483 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 41,209 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MicroStrategy were worth $7,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSTR. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of MicroStrategy in the first quarter worth about $58,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of MicroStrategy by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 575 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of MicroStrategy during the 1st quarter valued at $309,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MicroStrategy by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MicroStrategy by 20.7% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 7,326 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $12,488,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. 72.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MicroStrategy Price Performance

Shares of MicroStrategy stock opened at $430.54 on Wednesday. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $43.87 and a one year high of $449.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -204.34 and a beta of 3.05.

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations of $121.45 million. MicroStrategy had a negative return on equity of 17.31% and a negative net margin of 87.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($8.98) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BTIG Research upped their target price on MicroStrategy from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of MicroStrategy in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $194.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on MicroStrategy from $173.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark raised their price objective on MicroStrategy from $300.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of MicroStrategy from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.88.

Insider Activity at MicroStrategy

In related news, CEO Phong Le sold 50,000 shares of MicroStrategy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.28, for a total value of $6,914,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,752,007.60. The trade was a 79.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jeanine Montgomery sold 752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 owns 6,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,069,484.10. This trade represents a 10.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,000 shares of company stock worth $30,569,577 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.18% of the company’s stock.

MicroStrategy 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.