CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) Trading 4.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) shares shot up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The company traded as high as $429.69 and last traded at $426.16. 5,906,268 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the average session volume of 4,063,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $407.68.

CRWD has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CrowdStrike in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on CrowdStrike from $575.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore decreased their price objective on CrowdStrike from $460.00 to $375.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of CrowdStrike from $425.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of CrowdStrike from $595.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.98.

Insider Transactions at CrowdStrike

In other news, CFO Burt W. Podbere sold 7,871 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.78, for a total value of $3,272,604.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,521,693.14. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael Sentonas sold 11,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.78, for a total value of $5,498,758.58. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 342,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,399,015.90. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 100,247 shares of company stock valued at $45,722,274 over the last quarter. 3.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CrowdStrike News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CrowdStrike this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat, record ARR and constructive guidance reinforce recurring‑revenue growth and margin progress — the core reasons investors are bidding the stock up. CrowdStrike Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partnership to deliver AI‑native Falcon on STACKIT (Schwarz Digits) gives CrowdStrike a European sovereign‑cloud route to market and should ease EU data‑sovereignty objections for regulated customers. CrowdStrike and Schwarz Digits Partner to Deliver AI‑Native and Sovereign Cybersecurity Platform on STACKIT
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: Baron Global Opportunity Fund increased its CRWD holding, signaling confidence from a large active manager and supporting demand for the shares. Baron Global Opportunity Fund Increased Its Holding in CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD)
• Neutral Sentiment: CrowdStrike presented at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference — helpful for investor visibility but largely reiterative of the company’s AI/security narrative. CRWD Presents at Morgan Stanley TMT Conference 2026 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side price‑target cuts (Citigroup, Argus, UBS and others) trimmed upside despite maintaining many “buy”/“overweight” ratings — that compresses near‑term upside and adds volatility. Citigroup Adjusts Price Target on CrowdStrike Argus Adjusts Price Target on CrowdStrike
• Negative Sentiment: Broader scepticism about AI’s impact on software pricing — analysts warn agentic AI could either increase demand (more threats) or enable buyers to push back on software spending, keeping valuation scrutiny high. CrowdStrike Beats, But AI Concerns Persist

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CrowdStrike

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advyzon Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CrowdStrike by 142.9% during the 2nd quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in CrowdStrike by 6.7% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 22,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,083,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in CrowdStrike by 394.8% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in CrowdStrike by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,047,000 after acquiring an additional 5,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its stake in CrowdStrike by 7.3% in the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 22,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.16% of the company’s stock.

CrowdStrike Stock Up 4.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $107.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -575.88, a P/E/G ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $433.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $468.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 1.81.

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 0.15%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that CrowdStrike will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

CrowdStrike Company Profile

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.