Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Down 8.9% – Here’s Why

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) shares were down 8.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $42.10 and last traded at $42.56. Approximately 17,622,283 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 26,357,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on APLD shares. Northland Securities set a $56.00 target price on Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Applied Digital to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Texas Capital upgraded Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.67.

Applied Digital Stock Down 8.9%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.61. The firm has a market cap of $12.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.51 and a beta of 5.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last announced its 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 net margin of 52.84% and a negative return on equity of 15.91%. The firm had revenue of $108.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Applied Digital’s revenue was up 139.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLD. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 84.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 8,692 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 239.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 23,457 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 113.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 61.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 23,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

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.