Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Trading 6.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) traded up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $11.57 and last traded at $11.36. 51,467,571 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 41,096,793 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MARA. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Marathon Digital from $20.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Marathon Digital from $30.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Marathon Digital from $26.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.44.

Marathon Digital Stock Up 6.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 5.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.17 and a 200-day moving average of $15.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $252.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $254.58 million. Marathon Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.59% and a net margin of 100.82%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -1.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Digital

In other Marathon Digital news, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 34,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.48, for a total transaction of $398,723.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 248,566 shares in the company, valued at $2,853,537.68. This represents a 12.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of Marathon Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $296,228.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,555,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,292,616.53. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 155,474 shares of company stock valued at $1,937,880 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Digital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Digital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Marathon Digital by 59.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 12.6% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 6,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp increased its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 10.9% during the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 7,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 15.9% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.53% of the company’s stock.

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.