Morgan Stanley raises MicroStrategy stake by 450%

—,
—by Protos Staff

Morgan Stanley owns nearly 11% of MicroStrategy after increasing its stake in the data intelligence firm by 450%.

Now, the Wall Street stalwart sits on $382 million in MicroStrategy stock, having bought around 650,000 shares in the fourth quarter of 2020.

This ranks Morgan Stanley as MicroStrategy’s second largest shareholder after asset king BlackRock, which controls 16.5%.

MicroStrategy’s share price has surged ever since its chief exec/yacht fan Michael Saylor started buying Bitcoin in August last year — causing the two assets to become increasingly correlated.

So, Morgan Stanley’s big bet on MicroStrategy can be read as willingness to take on BTC exposure without directly handling the cryptocurrency.

[Read more: MicroStrategy now holds more than $1.6B in Bitcoin]

Not everyone shares Morgan Stanley’s enthusiasm. In December, Citibank downgraded MicroStrategy stock to a “sell” after Saylor touted plans to borrow $650 million to buy more BTC.