Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Price Up 25.5% – Here’s Why

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) shot up 25.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $35.09 and last traded at $34.95. 44,308,854 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the average session volume of 39,794,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on APLD shares. Texas Capital raised Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Northland Securities set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Arete Research began coverage on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.73.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of -64.72 and a beta of 7.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 4.82 and a current ratio of 4.82.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $126.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.22 million. Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.53% and a negative net margin of 43.49%.Applied Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 250.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.06) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Digital

In other news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $425,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 233,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,273,250.10. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Wes Cummins sold 165,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.42, for a total value of $6,009,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,176,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,101,902.18. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 244,593 shares of company stock valued at $9,003,278 over the last 90 days. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,445,908 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in 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. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $69,535,000. Situational Awareness LP raised its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 63.3% during the second quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 6,591,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HRT Financial LP bought a new position in Applied Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,759,000. Institutional investors 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.