Strategy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MSTR)

Key Points

• Strategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR) experienced a significant increase in call options trading, with 684,799 options bought on Monday, reflecting a 27% rise compared to average volumes.
• The company reported impressive earnings of $32.60 per share, far exceeding expectations and indicating a strong year-over-year revenue growth of 2.7%.
• Recent insider trading shows significant activity, as an executive sold 32,500 shares, while a director purchased 10,000 shares, indicating differing confidence levels among corporate insiders.

Strategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 684,799 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 27% compared to the typical volume of 540,805 call options.

Strategy Trading Down 0.6%

MSTR stock traded down $2.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $326.45. The company had a trading volume of 9,707,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,780,227. The stock has a market cap of $92.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94 and a beta of 3.82. Strategy has a 52 week low of $121.30 and a 52 week high of $543.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $383.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $355.41.

Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The software maker reported $32.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $32.72. Strategy had a net margin of 1,036.61% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The business had revenue of $114.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $112.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($5.74) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Strategy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 80.000-80.000 EPS.

Insider Transactions at Strategy

In other Strategy news, CFO Andrew Kang sold 18,750 shares of Strategy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.00, for a total value of $7,406,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,661,700. The trade was a 43.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.47, for a total value of $13,047,775.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,726 shares in the company, valued at $5,109,107.22. The trade was a 71.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 252,974 shares of company stock worth $22,844,759 and sold 142,150 shares worth $59,289,351. Insiders own 8.46% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Strategy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Strategy by 47.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 830 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Strategy by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Strategy during the first quarter valued at approximately $236,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in Strategy in the first quarter worth $13,795,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Strategy by 43.0% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,455 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,747 shares during the period. 59.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSTR shares. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Strategy in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Strategy in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Strategy from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Strategy in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Strategy in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $552.50.

Strategy Company Profile

Strategy Incorporated, formerly known as MicroStrategy, provides artificial intelligence-powered enterprise analytics software and services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers Strategy ONE, a platform that allows non-technical users to access novel and actionable insights for decision-making, and Strategy Cloud for Government, which provides always-on threat monitoring designed to meet the strict technical and regulatory standards of governments and financial institutions.