Next Century Growth Investors LLC Buys 187,044 Shares of Applied Digital Corporation $APLD

Next Century Growth Investors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) by 30.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 797,237 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 187,044 shares during the period. Applied Digital makes up approximately 1.4% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s holdings in Applied Digital were worth $19,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,168,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,601,000 after acquiring an additional 6,445,908 shares during the period. Situational Awareness LP grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 11,339,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,034,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274,905 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,151,000 after acquiring an additional 304,228 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 24,356.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,219,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,198,223 shares during the period. Finally, Marex Group plc grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 38,484.6% during the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 3,904,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,745,000 after acquiring an additional 3,894,639 shares during the period. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Compass Point reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Applied Digital from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Applied Digital from $66.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

Insider Activity at Applied Digital

In other news, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $349,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 184,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,466,367.82. This represents a 5.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $432,375.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 208,378 shares in the company, valued at $7,207,795.02. This trade represents a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,182,175 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital Stock Up 3.0%

NASDAQ APLD opened at $42.70 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.94 and its 200 day moving average is $32.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. Applied Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $9.02 and a 12 month high of $50.72. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of -57.70 and a beta of 5.69.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.23). Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 15.91% and a negative net margin of 52.84%.The business had revenue of $108.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 139.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) is a technology company specializing in the development and operation of large-scale digital infrastructure and sustainable Bitcoin mining solutions. Through its integrated platform, the company designs, builds and manages turnkey data center facilities while also providing comprehensive hosting services for cloud, colocation and enterprise computing needs. Applied Digital’s modular approach to facility design enables rapid deployment of capacity and streamlined integration of power, cooling and network connectivity.

In addition to its data center business, Applied Digital operates a network of Bitcoin mining sites that leverage vertically integrated capabilities, including hardware procurement, mining farm engineering, energy management and real-time performance monitoring.