Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares Up 3.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA)’s share price shot up 3.2% during trading on Monday after Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $15.00. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Marathon Digital traded as high as $11.85 and last traded at $11.83. 42,090,206 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average session volume of 47,036,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.46.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MARA. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Marathon Digital from $26.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Marathon Digital from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Digital in a report on Monday, February 9th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Zabi Nowaid sold 42,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $505,080.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 1,007,047 shares in the company, valued at $12,084,564. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.68, for a total value of $186,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 441,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,650.88. The trade was a 3.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 172,605 shares of company stock valued at $1,745,843 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,838,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,999,000 after purchasing an additional 35,978 shares during the period. Paradiem LLC increased its position in Marathon Digital by 165.5% during the first quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 33,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 21,107 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Marathon Digital by 9,020.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 94,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 93,086 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Marathon Digital by 11.5% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 634,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,099,000 after buying an additional 65,220 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 48.2% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 45,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 14,855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.53% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Digital Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.10. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.99 and a beta of 5.41.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported ($4.52) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($4.29). Marathon Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.01% and a negative net margin of 144.58%.The business had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Digital Company Profile

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.