Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Up 1.5% – Time to Buy?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) traded up 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $29.21 and last traded at $28.65. 13,484,583 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 23,820,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Compass Point reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Digital from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of Applied Digital from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.15.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.66. The firm has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.19 and a beta of 5.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a current ratio of 4.01 and a quick ratio of 4.01.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.30). Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 37.78% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. The company had revenue of $240.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Applied Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 406.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Digital Corporation will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $2,336,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 133,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,154,724.70. The trade was a 35.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Applied Digital by 36.4% during the fourth 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 lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 13,478,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139,378 shares during the period. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $312,349,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $154,151,000 after purchasing an additional 304,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $138,380,000. 65.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.