Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA)

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 366,305 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 56% compared to the average volume of 235,130 call options.

Insider Activity at Marathon Digital

In other Marathon Digital news, General Counsel Zabi Nowaid sold 8,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $99,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 970,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,649,216. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 425,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,100,792. The trade was a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 180,855 shares of company stock valued at $2,033,654 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Digital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Digital by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,706,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394,559 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Marathon Digital by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,455,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,977,000 after acquiring an additional 191,380 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Marathon Digital by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 12,098,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $220,922,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172,110 shares in the last quarter. Marex Group plc lifted its position in Marathon Digital by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 10,137,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $91,037,000 after acquiring an additional 259,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Marathon Digital by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,957,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,434,000 after acquiring an additional 251,674 shares in the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Digital Trading Down 13.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MARA traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.97. The stock had a trading volume of 28,267,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,800,754. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 5.38. Marathon Digital has a 1-year low of $6.66 and a 1-year high of $23.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered Marathon Digital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Digital in a research note on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.38.

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.