MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) Stock Jumps 4.1% – Time to Buy?

Shares of MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) rose 4.1% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $8.02 and last traded at $7.79. Approximately 34,570,879 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 45,386,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of MARA in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on MARA from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. HC Wainwright began coverage on MARA in a report on Friday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 target price (down from $13.00) on shares of MARA in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $11.00 price target (down from $13.00) on shares of MARA in a report on Monday, September 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.78.

MARA Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.78 and a beta of 5.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.77.

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported ($1.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($1.77). The business had revenue of $174.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $209.44 million. MARA had a negative return on equity of 26.05% and a negative net margin of 429.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MARA Holdings will post -1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Salman Khan sold 16,000 shares of MARA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $147,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 377,066 shares in the company, valued at $3,472,777.86. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.22, for a total transaction of $308,606.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,217,586 shares in the company, valued at $47,321,314.92. This trade represents a 0.65% 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 sold 106,891 shares of company stock worth $1,124,731 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MARA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MARA. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in MARA by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 4,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MARA during the third quarter valued at about $152,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of MARA by 19.4% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 159,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 25,962 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of MARA by 58.2% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MARA in the second quarter worth about $161,000. 44.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MARA Company Profile

MARA Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: MARA), formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, is a digital asset mining and energy infrastructure company. Its primary business is securing the Bitcoin network by operating specialized computing equipment that validates transactions and earns Bitcoin rewards.

The company develops and operates data centers and digital asset computing infrastructure, while also pursuing strategies to access low-cost and surplus energy. MARA has expanded its operations through a combination of owned facilities, hosting arrangements and acquisitions, with activities spanning North America and other international markets.

The company was founded in 2010 as Marathon Patent Group and later shifted its focus toward cryptocurrency mining before adopting the Marathon Digital name.