microstrategy-spends-$5.4-billion-buying-another-55,000-bitcoins,-shares-slide

MicroStrategy spends $5.4 billion buying another 55,000 bitcoins, shares slide

Business

MicroStrategy (MSTR) said Monday it purchased another 55,000 bitcoins (BTC-USD) last week for $5.4 billion as the world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading at all-time highs.

Shares of the company traded on both sides of the flat line following the news but closed the session down 4%

In a filing with the SEC, MicroStrategy said it spent $5.4 billion to acquire these bitcoins between Nov. 18 and Nov. 24, buying the bitcoin at an average price of $97,862.

The company said it used proceeds from convertible notes and share sales to fund the purchase.

The application software company, which has become a bitcoin proxy, has been buying tokens since 2020.

In recent weeks, it has intensified its purchases as bitcoin has rallied to highs above $99,000 following Donald Trump’s presidential win earlier this month.

The company’s prior weekly purchase included 51,780 bitcoins for an average price of just over $88,500 per token.

As of Sunday, MicroStrategy held approximately 386,700 bitcoins, acquired for an aggregate purchase price of about $21.9 billion and an average purchase price of approximately $56,761 per bitcoin.

MicroStrategy stock has been on a wild run this year, up more than 515% year to date, though shares fell over 15% last week after short seller Citron Research said they were betting against the stock.

The short seller said in an X post that while the firm remains bullish on bitcoin — and was bullish on MicroStrategy’s bitcoin play years ago — the company’s stock has “completely detached from BTC fundamentals.”

Wall Street analysts, however, have been increasingly bullish on the stock given bitcoin’s run and where bulls say it could be headed.

Bitcoin has been flirting with $100,000 since last Friday, reaching highs of more than $99,400.

Read more: Bitcoin clears another record: Is this a good time to invest?

Analysts at Bernstein raised their price target on the stock to $600 from $290, while Benchmark raised its target to a Street high of $640, up from $450.

In an interview on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast, Benchmark’s Mark Palmer said, “We assume in our analysis of MicroStrategy, that the price of bitcoin will reach $225,000 by the end of 2026.”

Michael Saylor, chairman and CEO of MicroStrategy, speaks during a panel discussion at the Bitcoin Conference, Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) · ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.

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