Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares Up 7.3% – Time to Buy?

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA)’s stock price shot up 7.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.55 and last traded at $9.29. 60,916,972 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 47,701,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MARA. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $26.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Compass Point raised shares of Marathon Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $21.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Marathon Digital from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Marathon Digital from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

Marathon Digital Stock Up 7.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.35 and a beta of 5.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported ($4.52) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($4.29). The company had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.74 million. Marathon Digital had a negative net margin of 144.58% and a negative return on equity of 17.88%. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Digital news, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.66, for a total value of $122,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 359,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,751,203.90. The trade was a 4.26% 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.66, for a total value of $210,688.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,381,861 shares in the company, valued at $25,905,055.26. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 133,247 shares of company stock valued at $1,325,255. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Digital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Marathon Digital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 7,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 3.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 29,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Digital by 2.7% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 35,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Marathon Digital

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc is a digital asset technology company specializing in the mining and acquisition of bitcoin. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, the firm employs high-performance application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners and proprietary software to secure the Bitcoin network and expand its crypto-mining footprint. Marathon Digital focuses on operational efficiency and scalability, while maintaining rigorous standards for regulatory compliance and corporate governance.

The company operates multiple large-scale mining facilities throughout North America, including sites in Texas, Montana and New York.