CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) Trading Up 2.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) shares traded up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Monday after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating. Wolfe Research now has a $450.00 price target on the stock. CrowdStrike traded as high as $390.49 and last traded at $380.06. 4,367,115 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 3,969,193 shares. The stock had previously closed at $369.58.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on CRWD. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of CrowdStrike from $600.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of CrowdStrike from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of CrowdStrike from $575.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on shares of CrowdStrike from $560.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Evercore cut their price target on CrowdStrike from $460.00 to $375.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $505.08.

Insider Activity at CrowdStrike

In related news, CEO George Kurtz sold 31,915 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.88, for a total transaction of $13,145,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,162,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $890,655,490.20. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Johanna Flower sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $461.94, for a total transaction of $1,385,820.00. Following the sale, the director owned 76,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,145,319.08. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 116,469 shares of company stock worth $48,369,351. Company insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

CrowdStrike News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CrowdStrike this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major bank praise: Morgan Stanley named CrowdStrike a top AI security bet, calling out its AI-driven endpoint leadership and reinforcing conviction in the company’s position to benefit from rising AI-related threats. CrowdStrike Gains 4% as Morgan Stanley Names It a Top AI Security Bet
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: Wolfe Research upgraded CRWD to “outperform” and set a $450 price target (~20–22% upside from recent levels), citing stronger cybersecurity demand as AI threats intensify. That upgrade is a near-term catalyst supporting the stock rebound. CrowdStrike jumps as analyst flags 20% upside amid AI fears
• Positive Sentiment: Broader analyst backing: Morgan Stanley maintained its Buy and other analysts have reiterated the thesis that agentic/AI threats increase enterprise spend on endpoint and detection tooling, creating a favorable demand backdrop for CRWD. Anthropic Can Spark “Machine-Speed Cyberwar”: CrowdStrike Stock (CRWD) Advances on Backing
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading strategies and market reaction: Options traders and commentators are discussing “sell the rip” tactics after upgrades and rallies, suggesting some traders view today’s move as a short-term bounce rather than a sustained trend. CRWD “Sell the Rip” Options Strategy on Upgrade & Rally
• Negative Sentiment: Recent pullback and competitive risk: CRWD has experienced a significant correction from its highs, and analysts/commentary note the risk that new AI-native security tools could undercut incumbents’ economics or slow spending recovery. That ongoing uncertainty is a headwind to multiple-quarter outlooks. I’ve Changed My Mind on CrowdStrike Stock. The Agentic AI Boom Changes Everything.
• Negative Sentiment: Reassessment calls: Market coverage includes pieces urging investors to reassess CRWD after the pullback and recent cyber-incident headlines, highlighting near-term volatility and the need to monitor guidance, customer metrics, and competitive developments. Is It Time To Reassess CrowdStrike (CRWD) After Recent Pullback And Cyber Incident News

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CrowdStrike

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRWD. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CrowdStrike by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CrowdStrike by 6.4% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 334 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Financially Speaking Inc grew its position in CrowdStrike by 26.7% during the third quarter. Financially Speaking Inc now owns 95 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in CrowdStrike by 1.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fire Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CrowdStrike by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fire Capital Management LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 71.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CrowdStrike Trading Up 2.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $96.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -513.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $417.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $469.03.

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. CrowdStrike had a negative net margin of 3.81% and a negative return on equity of 0.14%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that CrowdStrike will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: CRWD) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2011 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The firm was co-founded by George Kurtz and Dmitri Alperovitch and became a publicly traded company following its initial public offering in 2019. CrowdStrike positions itself as a provider of cloud-native security solutions designed to protect endpoints, cloud workloads, identities and data against sophisticated cyber threats.

The company’s core offering is the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, a modular, cloud-delivered security architecture that combines endpoint protection (EPP), endpoint detection and response (EDR), threat intelligence, and device control through lightweight agents and centralized telemetry.